Author(s): Fabian Klenner, University of Washington (First Author, Presenting Author) Yuxuan Cai, University of Science and Technology of China Weiming Xu, University of Science and Technology of China Christopher Glein, Southwest Research Institute David Catling, University of Washington Isabelle Daniel, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 Jihua Hao, University of Science and Technology of China
Combining two modeling techniques, we find that there was significant liquid water with an alkaline pH on the parent body of asteroid Bennu, possibly in the form of an NaCl-CO3-rich ocean. The chemical conditions are similar to those found in the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus, an environment that is widely considered habitable.
