"First-Ever Discovery: Water Found on Asteroids, Signaling Earth's Formation and Potential for Extraterrestrial Life"

Astronomers using the Sofia telescope have discovered water molecules on the surface of two asteroids, Iris and Massalia, in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This finding challenges the previous assumption that asteroids are completely dry and supports the idea that asteroid impacts may have delivered water and other elements to early Earth. The discovery was made using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sofia), and the findings were published in the Planetary Science Journal. This breakthrough follows previous evidence of water on the moon detected by the same telescope in 2020.