NASA to release first images of a historic asteroid sample
- October 11, 2023
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On Wednesday, NASA will release the first images of the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space. Scientists hope this will provide clues to the early days of
On Wednesday, NASA will release the first images of the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space. Scientists hope this will provide clues to the early days of our solar system and possibly the origin of life.
The OSIRIS-REx mission collected rock and dust from asteroid Bennu in 2020, and the capsule carrying the precious cargo successfully returned to Earth and landed in the Utah desert just over two weeks ago. It is currently being carefully analyzed in a special clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The space agency will hold a live press conference at 11 a.m. ET (3 p.m. GMT) to share photos and preliminary scientific analysis.
OSIRIS-REx wasn’t the first mission to encounter an asteroid and return samples for study; Japan has succeeded twice by bringing back pieces of the space pebble in 2010 and 2020.
However, the key difference is the significant amount of material (250 grams (half a pound) versus the 5.4 grams brought by the Japanese Hayabusa2). NASA chose to sample Bennu, which is believed to be rich in organic compounds. Scientists believe that such asteroids may have brought organic building blocks along with water to Earth through collisions billions of years ago.
Bennu’s orbit, which crosses our planet’s orbit, made the round trip easier than going to the Asteroid Belt, located between Mars and Jupiter. NASA researchers have been encouraged by the discovery of “bonus particles,” described as black dust and debris that have so far coated the sample collector.
In October 2020, when the OSIRIS-REx probe released nitrogen gas onto Bennu to collect a sample, a valve designed to shut it off was opened by a piece of rock, allowing some of the finer material to escape the collector without escaping. completely. .
“The biggest ‘problem’ is that a lot of material is taking longer to collect than we expected,” OSIRIS-REx assistant curator Christopher Snead said in a statement. said.
“It’s really impressive to have all this material.”
Bennu is thought to have formed from debris following a large-scale impact of a larger asteroid in the asteroid belt that occurred one to two billion years ago.
Data collected by the spacecraft showed that the particles that make up its exterior are so loosely packed that when a person steps on the surface they can sink, resembling a pit of plastic balls.
In addition to scientific understanding, a better understanding of Bennu’s composition could be useful if humanity must give it up. NASA says there is no chance of hitting Earth until the mid-2100s, but between then and 2300, this chance will increase to 1 in 1,750. Source
Source: Port Altele
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