NASA’s work on the asteroid samples that landed on Earth this week has been temporarily paused due to the discovery of mysterious black dust inside the canister. These samples were collected from the surface of Bennu in 2020 as part of the OSIRIS-REx mission and recently arrived in the Utah desert. Upon opening the canister, scientists found unidentified elements on the Touch and Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) on top of the avionics deck. NASA plans to conduct a quick analysis to determine if the dust originates from Bennu. The bulk of the sample will be carefully opened in the coming weeks. The presence of the residue on the avionics deck is likely due to collection issues that have been resolved. However, further investigation is needed to confirm this theory.
The data collected from the OSIRIS-REx mission will not only help scientists gain a better understanding of asteroids that could potentially impact Earth but also contribute to future asteroid deflection efforts. To ensure the preservation and careful handling of the asteroid samples, NASA has established a new curation facility managed by the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science division (ARES) at Johnson Space Center in Texas.
The OSIRIS-REx mission began in 2016, and the mothership, Osiris-Rex, reached Bennu in 2018. It successfully collected rubble from the asteroid in 2020 using a vacuum-like instrument. After traveling 4 billion miles, the spacecraft’s capsule re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 27,650mph before the parachute slowed it down to 11mph. NASA’s recovery efforts in Utah involved helicopters and a temporary clean room at the Defense Department’s Utah Test and Training Range.
The samples returned by Osiris-Rex represent the largest collection of extraterrestrial material brought back to Earth since the moon landing. These preserved building blocks from the early solar system will provide valuable insights into the formation of Earth and life itself, offering a glimpse into our planet’s origins billions of years ago.
Bennu, which is currently located 50 million miles from Earth, is approximately the size of the Empire State Building and was named by a third-grade student who won the “Name that Asteroid!” contest in 2012. Shaped like a spinning top, Bennu is believed to be a fragment of a larger space rock and is composed primarily of rubble. Its intersecting orbit with Earth makes it one of the most hazardous known asteroids, with a high probability of colliding with our planet in September 2182. The data gathered by Osiris-Rex will aid in future efforts to deflect asteroids, as the spacecraft is already en route to study the asteroid Apophis, which it will reach in 2029.
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