Nasa’s first asteroid samples were retrieved from deep space and landed in the Utah desert on Sunday. The Osiris-Rex spacecraft released the sample capsule from 63,000 miles out during a flyby of Earth. The small capsule landed four hours later on a remote expanse of military land, while the mothership headed towards another asteroid. A helicopter transported the space capsule carrying the samples to a temporary clean room at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.
The mission was a success, with the capsule landing three minutes earlier than expected. The parachute also opened at a higher altitude of around 20,000 feet, keeping the capsule intact and the 4.5 billion-year-old samples free from contamination. The capsule was quickly transported to the Defense Department’s Utah Test and Training Range using a helicopter.
Astronaut Sunita Williams, who was in Utah for her own space capsule mission, described the landing as “amazing” and compared it to something out of a movie. The capsule is estimated to hold at least a cup of rubble from the carbon-rich asteroid named Bennu. However, scientists won’t know the exact amount until the container is opened in the next few days.
The samples collected from Bennu are significant, as they represent the largest haul from beyond the moon. They are expected to provide valuable insights into the formation of Earth and life. The samples will be flown to Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and will be stored alongside the moon rocks gathered by the Apollo astronauts. The opening of the container in Houston will determine the precise measurement of the samples.
Bennu is a small asteroid approximately the size of the Empire State Building and is believed to be a fragment of a larger asteroid. The data collected by Osiris-Rex during its mission will help scientists in future efforts to deflect asteroids that may pose a threat to Earth. Nasa’s sample return mission from Mars is currently on hold due to cost and complexity concerns.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
