NASA successfully lands its first samples collected from an asteroid in the Utah desert. The Osiris-Rex spacecraft released the sample capsule during a flyby of Earth, after traveling nearly 63,000 miles. The capsule touched down on a remote military land, while the mothership set off to explore another asteroid. Flight Control announced the touchdown earlier than anticipated, due to the orange-striped parachute opening higher than expected. The samples collected will provide valuable insight into the formation of Earth and life itself.
Scientists estimate that the capsule contains at least a cup of rubble from the carbon-rich asteroid called Bennu. However, the actual amount will only be confirmed once the container is opened. Some of the rubble did spill and float away during the collection process, and rocks caused the container’s lid to jam three years ago. In comparison, Japan, the only other country to retrieve asteroid samples, brought back about a teaspoon of material from two asteroid missions. The samples collected from Bennu represent the largest haul from beyond the moon. These preserved building blocks from our solar system’s early days, dating back 4.5 billion years, will help scientists better understand the origins of Earth and life itself.
The Osiris-Rex spacecraft was launched in 2016 and reached Bennu in 2018. Using a long stick vacuum, it collected rubble from the small roundish space rock in 2020. The spacecraft traveled a total of 4 billion miles before returning to Earth. The recovery effort in Utah involved helicopters and a clean room set up at the Defense Department’s Utah Test and Training Range. The samples will be transported to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for further analysis. The center already houses hundreds of pounds of moon rocks gathered by the Apollo astronauts. NASA plans to hold a public exhibition in October. The Osiris-Rex mission is now focused on the asteroid Apophis, which it will reach in 2029.
(Read more NASA stories.)
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