Evening Brief: Hegseth Defends Caribbean Strike, New US-Bahrain Air Defense Center, Taliban Stage Public Execution Before Thousands
Top stories this Tuesday evening, December 2, 2025.
NASA Awards Lunar Freezer System Contract
NASA has selected the University of Alabama at Birmingham to provide the necessary systems required to return temperature sensitive science payloads to Earth from the Moon.
The Lunar Freezer System contract is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award with cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery orders. The contract begins Thursday, Dec. 4, with a 66-month base period along with two optional periods that could extend the award through June 3, 2033. The contract has a total estimated value of $37 million.
Under the contract, the awardee will be responsible for providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective hardware and software systems NASA needs to maintain temperature-critical science materials, including lunar geological samples, human research samples, and biological experimentation samples, as they travel aboard Artemis spacecraft to Earth from the lunar surface. The awarded contractor was selected after a thorough evaluation by NASA engineers of the proposals submitted. NASA’s source selection authority made the selection after reviewing the evaluation material based on the evaluation criteria contained in the request for proposals.
For information about NASA and other agency programs, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov
-end-
Tiernan DoyleHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1600tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov
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Waxing Gibbous Moon
The waxing gibbous moon rises above Earth’s blue atmosphere in this photograph taken from the International Space Station on Oct. 3, 2025, as it orbited 263 miles above a cloudy Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Quebec, Canada.
In our entire solar system, the only object that shines with its own light is the Sun. That light always beams onto Earth and the Moon from the direction of the Sun, illuminating half of our planet in its orbit and reflecting off the surface of the Moon to create moonlight. Sometimes the entire face of the Moon glows brightly. Other times we see only a thin crescent of light. Sometimes the Moon seems to disappear. These shifts are called Moon phases. The waxing gibbous phase comes just before the full moon.
Learn more about our Moon.
Image credit: NASA
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SOFREP Pic of the Day: Venezuela Arms Its Citizens
Rifles In The Streets Of Caracas
Check out our “pic of the day”. Here we have a young woman, scarf around her neck, hands wrapped around an old East German MPi-KM rifle, while a sea of nervous faces and other citizens with slung rifles stretches into the distance. That is not a parade; it is a warning flare from a country that has been living on the edge for years. Venezuela is arming its citizens again, and this time they are staring out toward a horizon crowded with American warships.
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NASA Tests Drones in Death Valley, Preps for Martian Sands and Skies
Next-generation drone flight software is just one of 25 technologies for the Red Planet that the space agency funded for development this year.
When NASA engineers want to test a concept for exploring the Red Planet, they have to find ways to create Mars-like conditions here on Earth. Then they test, tinker, and repeat.
That’s why a team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California took three research drones to California’s Death Valley National Park and the Mojave Desert earlier this year. They needed barren, featureless desert dunes to hone navigation software. Called Extended Robust Aerial Autonomy, the work is just one of 25 projects funded by the agency’s Mars Exploration Program this past year to push the limits of future technologies. Similar dunes on Mars confused the navigation algorithm of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during several of its last flights, including its 72nd and final flight on the Red Planet.
“Ingenuity was designed to fly over well-textured terrain, estimating its motion by looking at visual features on the ground. But eventually it had to cross over blander areas where this became hard,” said Roland Brockers, a JPL researcher and drone pilot. “We want future vehicles to be more versatile and not have to worry about flying over challenging areas like these sand dunes.”
Whether it’s new navigation software, slope-scaling robotic scouts, or long-distance gliders, the technology being developed by the Mars Exploration Program envisions a future where robots can explore all on their own — or even help astronauts do their work.
NASA scientists and engineers have been going to Death Valley National Park since the 1970s, when the agency was preparing for the first Mars landings with the twin Viking spacecraft. Rubbly volcanic boulders on barren slopes earned one area the name Mars Hill, where much of this research has taken place. Almost half a century later, JPL engineers tested the Perseverance rover’s precision landing system by flying a component of it in a piloted helicopter over the park.
For the drone testing, engineers traveled to the park’s Mars Hill and Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes in late April and early September. The JPL team received only the third-ever license to fly research drones in Death Valley. Temperatures reached as high as 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius); gathered beneath a pop-up canopy, team members tracked the progress of their drones on a laptop.
The test campaign has already resulted in useful findings, including how different camera filters help the drones track the ground and how new algorithms can guide them to safely land in cluttered terrain like Mars Hill’s.
“It’s incredibly exciting to see scientists using Death Valley as a proving ground for space exploration,” said Death Valley National Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “It’s a powerful reminder that the park is protected not just for its scenic beauty or recreational opportunities, but as a living laboratory that actively helps us understand desert environments and worlds beyond our own.”
For additional testing during the three-day excursion, the team ventured to the Mojave Desert’s Dumont Dunes. The site of mobility system tests for NASA’s Curiosity rover in 2012, the rippled dunes there offered a variation of the featureless terrain used to test the flight software in Death Valley.
“Field tests give you a much more comprehensive perspective than solely looking at computer models and limited satellite images,” said JPL’s Nathan Williams, a geologist on the team who previously helped operate Ingenuity. “Scientifically interesting features aren’t always located in the most benign places, so we want to be prepared to explore even more challenging terrains than Ingenuity did.”
The California desert isn’t the only field site where Mars technology has been tested this year. In August, researchers from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston ventured to New Mexico’s White Sands National Park, another desert location that has hosted NASA testing for decades.
They were there with a doglike robot called LASSIE-M (Legged Autonomous Surface Science In Analogue Environments for Mars). Motors in the robot’s legs measure physical properties of the surface that, when combined with other data, lets LASSIE-M shift gait as it encounters terrain that is softer, looser, or crustier — variations often indicative of scientifically interesting changes.
The team’s goal is to develop a robot that can scale rocky or sandy terrain — both of which can be hazardous to a rover — as it scouts ahead of humans and robots alike, using instruments to seek out new science.
Another Mars Exploration Program concept funded this past year is an autonomous robot that trades the compactness of the Ingenuity helicopter for the range that comes with wings. NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, has been developing the Mars Electric Reusable Flyer (MERF), which looks like a single wing with twin propellers that allow it to lift off vertically and hover in the air. (A fuselage and tail would be too heavy for this design.) While the flyer skims the sky at high speeds, instruments on its belly can map the surface.
At its full size, the MERF unfolds to be about as long as a small school bus. Langley engineers have been testing a half-scale prototype, sending it soaring across a field on the Virgina campus to study the design’s aerodynamics and the robot’s lightweight materials, which are critical to flying in Mars’ thin atmosphere.
With other projects focused on new forms of power generation, drills and sampling equipment, and cutting-edge autonomous software, there are many new ways for NASA to explore Mars in the future.
News Media Contacts
Andrew GoodJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.818-393-2433andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
Alise Fisher / Alana JohnsonNASA Headquarters, Washington202-617-4977 / 202-672-4780alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov
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New email scam uses hidden characters to slip past filters
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Cybercriminals keep finding new angles to get your attention, and email remains one of their favorite tools. Over the years, you have probably seen everything from fake courier notices to AI-generated scams that feel surprisingly polished. Filters have improved, but attackers have learned to adapt. The latest technique takes aim at something you rarely think about: the subject line itself. Researchers have found a method that hides tiny, invisible characters inside the subject so automated systems fail to flag the message. It sounds subtle, but it is quickly becoming a serious problem.Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy ReportGet my best tech tips, urgent security alerts, and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide – free when you join my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter.NEW SCAM SENDS FAKE MICROSOFT 365 LOGIN PAGES Cybercriminals are using invisible Unicode characters to disguise phishing email subject lines, allowing dangerous scams to slip past filters. (Photo by Donato Fasano/Getty Images)How the new trick worksResearchers recently uncovered phishing campaigns that embed soft hyphens between every letter of an email subject. These are invisible Unicode characters that normally help with text formatting. They do not show up in your inbox, but they completely throw off keyword-based filters. Attackers use MIME encoded-word formatting to slip these characters into the subject. By encoding it in UTF-8 and Base64, they can weave these hidden characters through the entire phrase.One analyzed email decoded to “Your Password is About to Expire” with a soft hyphen tucked between every character. To you, it looks normal. To a security filter, it looks scrambled, with no clear keyword to match. The attackers then use the same trick in the body of the email, so both layers slide through detection. The link leads to a fake login page sitting on a compromised domain, designed to harvest your credentials.If you have ever tried spotting a phishing email, this one still follows the usual script. It builds urgency, claims something is about to expire and points you to a login page. The difference is in how neatly it dodges the filters you trust.Why this phishing technique is super dangerousMost phishing filters rely on pattern recognition. They look for suspicious words, common phrases and structure. They also scan for known malicious domains. By splitting every character with invisible symbols, attackers break up these patterns. The text becomes readable for you but unreadable for automated systems. This creates a quiet loophole where old phishing templates suddenly become effective again.The worrying part is how easy this method is to copy. The tools needed to encode these messages are widely available. Attackers can automate the process and churn out bulk campaigns with little extra effort. Since the characters are invisible in most email clients, even tech-savvy users do not notice anything odd at first glance.Security researchers point out that this method has appeared in email bodies for years, but using it in the subject line is less common. That makes it harder for existing filters to catch. Subject lines also play a key role in shaping your first impression. If the subject looks familiar and urgent, you are more likely to open the email, which gives the attacker a head start.How to spot a phishing email before you clickPhishing emails often look legitimate, but the links inside them tell a different story. Scammers hide dangerous URLs behind familiar-looking text, hoping you will click without checking. One safe way to preview a link is by using a private email service that shows the real destination before your browser loads it.Our top-rated private email provider recommendation includes malicious link protection that reveals full URLs before opening them. This gives you a clear view of where a link leads before anything can harm your device. It also offers strong privacy features like no ads, no tracking, encrypted messages and unlimited disposable aliases.For recommendations on private and secure email providers, visit Cyberguy.comPAYROLL SCAM HITS US UNIVERSITIES AS PHISHING WAVE TRICKS STAFF A new phishing method hides soft hyphens inside subject lines, scrambling keyword detection while appearing normal to users. (Photo by Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)9 steps you can take to protect yourself from this phishing scamYou do not need to become a security expert to stay safe. A few habits, paired with the right tools, can shut down most phishing attempts before they have a chance to work.1) Use a password managerA password manager helps you create strong, unique passwords for every account. Even if a phishing email fools you, the attacker cannot use your password elsewhere because each one is different. Most password managers also warn you when a site looks suspicious.Next, see if your email has been exposed in past breaches. Our #1 password manager (see Cyberguy.com) pick includes a built-in breach scanner that checks whether your email address or passwords have appeared in known leaks. If you discover a match, immediately change any reused passwords and secure those accounts with new, unique credentials. Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2025 at Cyberguy.com.2) Enable two-factor authenticationTurning on 2FA adds a second step to your login process. Even if someone steals your password, they still need the verification code on your phone. This stops most phishing attempts from going any further.3) Install a reliable antivirus softwareStrong antivirus software does more than scan for malware. Many can flag unsafe pages, block suspicious redirects and warn you before you enter your details on a fake login page. It is a simple layer of protection that helps a lot when an email slips past filters.The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.4) Limit your personal data onlineAttackers often tailor phishing messages using information they find about you. Reducing your digital footprint makes it harder for them to craft emails that feel convincing. You can use personal data removal services to clean up exposed details and old database leaks.While no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren’t cheap, and neither is your privacy. These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you.AI FLAW LEAKED GMAIL DATA BEFORE OPENAI PATCH Researchers warn that attackers are bypassing email defenses by manipulating encoded subject lines with unseen characters. (Photo by Lisa Forster/picture alliance via Getty Images)Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com5) Check sender details carefullyDo not rely on the display name. Always check the full email address. Attackers often tweak domain names by a single letter or symbol. If something feels off, open the site manually instead of clicking any link inside the email.6) Never reset passwords through email linksIf you get an email claiming your password will expire, do not click the link. Go to the website directly and check your account settings. Phishing emails rely on urgency. Slowing down and confirming the issue yourself removes that pressure.7) Keep your software and browser updatedUpdates often include security fixes that help block malicious scripts and unsafe redirects. Attackers take advantage of older systems because they are easier to trick. Staying updated keeps you ahead of known weaknesses.8) Turn on advanced spam filtering or “strict” filteringMany email providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) allow you to tighten spam filtering settings. This won’t catch every soft-hyphen scam, but it improves your odds and reduces risky emails overall.9) Use a browser with anti-phishing protectionChrome, Safari, Firefox, Brave, and Edge all include anti-phishing checks. This adds another safety net if you accidentally click a bad link.CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APPKurt’s key takeawayPhishing attacks are changing fast, and tricks like invisible characters show how creative attackers are getting. It’s safe to say filters and scanners are also improving, but they cannot catch everything, especially when the text they see is not the same as what you see. Staying safe comes down to a mix of good habits, the right tools, and a little skepticism whenever an email pushes you to act quickly. If you slow down, double-check the details, and follow the steps that strengthen your accounts, you make it much harder for anyone to fool you.Do you trust your email filters, or do you double-check suspicious messages yourself? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy ReportGet my best tech tips, urgent security alerts, and exclusive deals delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my Ultimate Scam Survival Guide – free when you join my CYBERGUY.COM newsletter.Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
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3D model shows small clans created Easter Island statues
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Credit: ArcGIS
Easter Island is famous for its giant monumental statues, called moai, built some 800 years ago. The volcanic rock used for the moai came from a quarry site called Rano Raraku. Archaeologists have created a high-resolution interactive 3D model of the quarry site to learn more about the processes used to create the moai. (You can explore the full interactive model here.) According to a paper published in the journal PLoS ONE, the model shows that there were numerous independent groups, probably family clans, that created the moai, rather than a centralized management system.
“You can see things that you couldn’t actually see on the ground. You can see tops and sides and all kinds of areas that just would never be able to walk to,” said co-author Carl Lipo of Binghamton University. “We can say, ‘Here, go look at it.’ If you want to see the different kinds of carving, fly around and see stuff there. We’re documenting something that really has needed to be documented, but in a way that’s really comprehensive and shareable.”
Lipo is one of the foremost experts on the Easter Island moai. In October, we reported on Lipo’s experimental confirmation—based on 3D modeling of the physics and new field tests to re-create that motion—that Easter Island’s people transported the statues in a vertical position, with workers using ropes to essentially “walk” the moai onto their platforms. To explain the presence of so many moai, the assumption has been that the island was once home to tens of thousands of people.
Lipo’s latest field trials showed that the “walking” method can be accomplished with far fewer workers: 18 people, four on each lateral rope and 10 on a rear rope, to achieve the side-to-side walking motion. They were efficient enough in coordinating their efforts to move the statue forward 100 meters in just 40 minutes. That’s because the method operates on basic pendulum dynamics, which minimizes friction between the base and the ground. It’s also a technique that exploits the gradual build-up of amplitude, suggesting a sophisticated understanding of resonance principles.
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“Renewable” no more: Trump admin renames the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
The Trump administration has renamed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, now calling it the National Laboratory of the Rockies, marking an identity shift for the Colorado institution that has been a global leader in wind, solar and other renewable energy research.
“The new name reflects the Trump administration’s broader vision for the lab’s applied energy research, which historically emphasized alternative and renewable sources of generation, and honors the natural splendor of the lab’s surroundings in Golden, Colorado,” said Jud Virden, laboratory director, in a statement.
He did not specify what this “broader vision” would mean for the lab’s programs or its staff of about 4,000.
The renaming is the latest in a series of actions by the Trump administration to deemphasize or cut the parts of the federal government that support renewable energy, while also expanding federal support for fossil fuels.
Asked for details, the Department of Energy said in an email that the renaming “reflects the Department’s renewed focus on ‘energy addition’ rather than the prioritization of specific energy resources.”
A lab spokesman had no additional information about whether there will be changes to programs or headcount at the lab.
Bill Ritter, a Democrat who was governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011, said it’s reasonable to assume that the name change signals that the federal government is abandoning the lab’s status as a world leader in energy research.
“It’s an iconic research facility,” he said.
Underscoring this point, he recalled a trip to Israel while he was governor.
“The head of their renewable energy laboratory said, ‘I have nothing to tell you because you come from the place that has the best renewable energy laboratory in the world,’” Ritter said.
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Universal Consciousness Before the Big Bang, the Launch of “UAlbany Project X”, and Extremophile Survival in Space
This week in news from The Debrief, a new theoretical study argues that a “universal consciousness” may have predated the Big Bang and continues to influence the structure of reality itself. Meanwhile, astronauts conducting experiments outside the International Space Station found that an ancient, extremophile Earth organism survived nine months in the harsh vacuum of space, raising fresh questions about the resilience of life. And at the University at Albany, physicists have launched “UAlbany Project X,” a long-term, data-driven investigation into unidentified anomalous phenomena, signaling a growing willingness in academia to rigorously explore aerial mysteries once left at the fringes of science.
Here’s a look at all the recent stories we’re covering right now at The Debrief…
How a 500-Year-Old Bible Map Accidentally Helped Shape the Modern Idea of Territorial Borders
A backwards 1525 Bible map helped shape modern borders, influencing how we imagine territory, nations, and political space today.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Hears the Crack of Martian Lightning, Providing the First Glimpse into the Red Planet’s Atmospheric Electricity
New evidence of electrical phenomena in the Martian atmosphere could expand our understanding of the Red Planet’s chemistry, climate, and habitability.
Newly Discovered Fossil Evidence Proves These Giants Roamed the Earth Over 12 Million Years Ago
Analysis of ancient fossils has shown that giant anacondas became extremely large over 12 million years ago and remain giants today.
“Bronze Age People Didn’t Do That”: English Team Unearths “Unprecedented” Evidence of 4500-Year-Old Ancient Monument
British archaeologists have made a discovery they believe points to an unusual ancient monument that once stood in Northwest England 4,500 years ago.
Scholars Investigated 13th-Century Texts for Clues to India’s Environmental Past—What They Found Was Unexpected
India’s tales from long ago are helping scholars piece together the flora and foliage that once covered the country’s present-day savannas.
This 3.4-Million-Year-Old Foot Reveals Another Mysterious Early Human Species Once Walked in the Same Area as Our Ancestors
3.4 million years ago in the Afar region of Ethiopia, at least two different kinds of early human relatives walked the same landscape.
The Hidden Oceans of Saturn and Jupiter’s Icy Moons May Have Shaped Their Surface Features, Study Reveals
New research now shows how icy moons’ hidden subsurface oceans may have driven their geological development.
“No One Has Really Gone Back and Looked at What the Bones Themselves Say”: New Research is Shedding Light on an Ancient Sea Monster
Ohio’s ancient sea monster, the Dunkleosteus terrelli, stands revealed in new clarity after a recent study.
Hundreds of Easter Island Moai Statues Can Now Be Explored in Unprecedented Detail, Thanks to This Interactive 3D Model
Binghamton University archaeologists have released a new interactive, 3D model of the Moai statue quarry on Rapa Nui (Easter Island).
Psychologists Report that Just Seeing Batman is Enough to Drive Prosocial Behaviors
Seeing Batman inspires us, say psychologists whose new research suggests it increases people’s propensity for prosocial behavior.
The Next Frontier of Anti-Violence Tech? Scientists Discover Human Tears Carry a Chemical Signal That Lowers Aggression
Research reveals that a hidden evolutionary signal in human tears that may be hardwired to calm aggression.
Astronomers Uncover the Dramatic Past of a Red Giant Star Orbiting a Hidden Black Hole
Astronomers are revealing the dramatic past of a distant red giant star by analyzing the faint rhythmic pulses hidden in its light.
Scienstists Reveal Samples from Near-Earth Asteroid Bennu Hold a Rich Collection of Life-Giving Ingredients
A new analysis of samples returned from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu has revealed a rich collection of organic molecules, including several chemical building blocks used by life on Earth, as well as the potentially historic detection of the complex amino acid tryptophan.
Discovered in 1999, Bennu is a near-Earth asteroid that passes by our planet every six years. It was the target of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which aimed to collect samples from the asteroid and deliver them to Earth in September 2023.
Now that samples are safely in labs for examination, this new study, led by Angel Mojarro of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined tiny fragments of Bennu’s rocky surface. Because these samples were taken directly from the asteroid and sealed before re-entry, they preserve a pristine record of early Solar System chemistry, free from contamination by Earth’s atmosphere and biosphere.
The sample site was imaged by OSIRIS-REx at touchdown on the rocky surface of the asteroid Bennu. The circular head in the image center is 30 centimeters in diameter. (Image credit: NASA)
“Our findings expand the evidence that prebiotic organic molecules can form within primitive accreting planetary bodies and could have been delivered via impacts to early Earth and other solar system bodies, potentially contributing to the origins of life,” the researchers wrote in their study.
The team focused on two main types of organic material within the Bennu samples. One is a tough, tar-like “insoluble” organic sample made of large, interconnected carbon-rich structures, similar in some ways to very old coals or kerogen on Earth. The other is a “soluble” sample made up of smaller, more mobile molecules that can be extracted with liquids, such as amino acids and nucleobases, the molecules life uses to build proteins and to store genetic information in DNA and RNA.
To study both, the team used a combination of heating samples to release volatile compounds and a wet-chemistry method that chemically tags small molecules for detection with high-sensitivity mass spectrometry.
A sample collected from the asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. (Credit: NASA)
Mojarro and his co-authors identified 15 of the 20 standard amino acids used by terrestrial life to assemble proteins, along with all five nucleobases that form the “letters” of DNA and RNA: adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil. Earlier work on other Bennu fragments had already shown that the asteroid carries 14 protein-forming amino acids and the full set of nucleobases, but the new study adds one more amino acid to the list.
In a historical first, a tentative detection of the amino acid tryptophan in the aggregate Bennu sample indicates that a relatively complex amino acid exists in extraterrestrial objects. Tryptophan is one of the 20 amino acids used by life, and on Earth, it plays roles in both protein structure and cellular signaling. In the Bennu samples, it appears at trace levels across multiple subsamples and is absent from blank laboratory controls, so the team argues that it is unlikely to be a contamination artifact, while still stressing that further measurements will be needed to confirm the detection beyond doubt.
If confirmed, its presence would suggest that some fragile organic molecules are missing from meteorites because they do not survive the heating and shock of atmospheric entry, highlighting the importance of sample-return missions for capturing the full range of prebiotic compounds in space.
The study also shows that Bennu is not chemically uniform. OSIRIS-REx returned not only a mixed “aggregate” powder of fine particles, but also three visually distinct stones which correspond to different boulder types seen on the asteroid’s surface. When the team analyzed these stones separately, they found clear differences in both the soluble and insoluble organics for each one.
The different types of rock indicate that Bennu’s parent body experienced multiple, distinct episodes of aqueous alteration in a wet, alkaline, ammonia-rich environment, and that different lithologies record different moments in this history rather than a single, uniform alteration event. In other words, wherever Bennu originally came from, it has had a complex upbringing across multiple environments, which have impacted its chemical makeup.
“Sample return missions from a variety of planetary bodies are accordingly crucial to enabling new discoveries and elucidating products of cosmochemistry,” the authors concluded.
MJ Banias covers space, security, and technology with The Debrief. You can email him at mj@thedebrief.org or follow him on Twitter @mjbanias.