Earth just got a special deliverance : patch of an ancient asteroid that were snagged directly from the germ and dropped off in the westerly Utah desert . After traveling through space for nearly three years , the journey is just beginning for the valued rock-and-roll sample distribution , which could help oneself scientists figure out the story of life .
On Sunday , NASA ’s OSIRIS - RExdropped off a capsule of rocks and dustcollected from asteroid Bennu at the Department of Defense ’s Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City . The garner pieces from the asteroid are being prepped to undergo extensive psychoanalysis by scientist around the cosmos , all aiming to better understand the origin of organics and water system that lead to animation on Earth . Bennu is also a near - Earth potentially hazardous asteroid , therefore studying it closely can aid us learn more about its likely threats to our planet .
On Monday , the Bennu sample , an forecast 8.8 snow leopard of asteroid rock and dust ( 250 grams ) , will be transported in its unopened cannister to NASA ’s Johnson Space Center in Houston by aircraft . There , scientists will at long last open up the canister , take out and librate the sample , make an inventorying of what ’s inside , and distribute piece of Bennu to teams of scientists around the world , fit in toNASA .
The sample return capsule after touching down at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range on 28 January 2025.Photo: NASA/Keegan Barber
Bennu is a small , near - Earth asteroid that makes a snug fling to Earth every six years or so . Scientists think Bennu might have break off from a much great carbon paper - rich asteroid about 700 million to 2 billion age ago , and range much closer to Earth since then .
“ Successfully deliver sample from Bennu to Earth is a triumph of collaborative ingenuity and a will to what we can execute when we unite with a common purpose . But let ’s not forget — while this may feel like the end of an unbelievable chapter , it ’s truly just the commencement of another , ” Dante Lauretta , chief investigator for OSIRIS - king at the University of Arizona , Tucson , said in a argument . “ We now have the unprecedented opportunity to analyze these samples and delve deeper into the secret of our solar system . ”
The OSIRIS - REx mission launched in September 2016 and reached asteroid Bennu in December 2018 . After near two years of observations , the ballistic capsule shore on Bennu andsnagged a sample from its surfacein October 2020 . On May 10 , 2021 , OSIRIS - REx said goodbye to Bennu and commence its journey back home to discharge off its cute shipment .
The spacecraft was 63,000 miles ( 102,000 kilometers ) away from Earth ’s aerofoil when it discharge its sampling capsule toward Earth ’s atmosphere at 6:42 a.m. ET , according to NASA . After dropping off its sample , the OSIRIS - king spacecraft began earn its way towards its next mission of exploring asteroid Apophis . Accordingly , the mission will be renamed to OSIRIS - APEX ( OSIRIS - Apophis Explorer ) .
The sampling capsule made its style down at velocity of 27,650 miles per 60 minutes ( 44,500 kilometer per hour ) , and it pierced the atmosphere at 10:42 a.m. ET off the coast of California at an altitude of about 83 mile ( 133 km ) . Around 10 minutes later , the ejection seat landed in the Utah desert with the help of two parachutes to slow it down .
“ The whole team had butterflies today , but that ’s the focused anticipation of a critical event by a well - prepared team , ” Rich Burns , project manager for OSIRIS - REx at NASA ’s Goddard Space Flight Center , order in a statement . “ For us , this was the World Series , ninth frame , bases - load second , and this team knocked it out of the parking lot . ”
This marks the first prison term that NASA has come back Earth’s surface samples from an asteroid . Japan achieved the same feat in December 2020 , returning samples of asteroid Ryugu as part of the Hayabusa2 mission .
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