If you’ve not been formally introduced, Asteroid 101955 Bennu is a 500-meter wide object that is hurtling around space, and is considered a near-earth object in space terms.

Near-earth is, for non-scientists, a relative term: in fact, Bennu is over 149 million miles away from Earth – but in the scale of the vastness of the universe, that is actually quite close.

However, Bennu is getting closer to us. Every six years, following its own orbital trajectory, Bennu comes close to Earth – close in this case meaning between 186,000 to 300,000 miles away.

But all could someday change, and NASA predicts there is a chance that Bennu has the potential to impact the earth in the year 2182.

But that’s not the only reason that Bennu is interesting to planetary scientists; rather, the composition of the asteroid has been the source of significant research. NASA’s OSITIS-REx mission even took samples from Bennu.

That’s because, more than just knowing what could one day hit us, meteors are thought to be one of the key components for the beginnings of life in space, thanks to the range of molecules that they hurtle around the galaxy.

And sampling of Bennu has proven just that: not only does the asteroid contain high levels of carbon and nitrogen, it also contains amino acids and sugars which only further prove the fundamental role asteroids could have in life itself.

Every living being is composed of amino acids, and – as a recent study from a US-based research team has proven – Bennu contains vital amino acids that have never before been discovered in space.

In their paper, which was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the research team explain that the samples from Bennu contain – among other amino acids – tryptophan.

Why is this significant? Well, trytophan can be processed into several things: serotonin (the ‘happy’ hormone), melatonin (the ‘sleepy’ hormone), and vitamin B3 – and this is the first time that their amino acid has been discovered in space, as the authors explain:

“Our findings expand the evidence that prebiotic organic molecules can form within primitive accreting planetary bodies and could have been delivered via impacts to the early Earth and other Solar System bodies, potentially contributing to the origins of life.”

It’s fascinating to think that the potential for life – and happiness – is right there, contained within an asteroid that might hit us in another hundred and fifty(ish) years.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about 50 amazing finds on Google Earth.