Scientists Surprised by Abundance of Material in Asteroid Sample
upstart writes:
"It's really spectacular to have all that material there":
Last month, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission successfully dropped off incredibly rare samples it collected fromtheasteroid Bennu, tens of millions of miles away, which could provide tantalizing glimpses into the earliest stages of our solar system.
[...] Scientists soon cracked open the canister to find an abundance of material - and that's not even counting the still-sealed chamber of the spacecraft's TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) head, which holds most of the treasure.
In fact, there are so many "dark particles" coating the canister's interior that it's slowing down the curation process, according to a NASA statement.
[...] The spacecraft rendezvoused with the 1,600-foot asteroid back in 2020. It slowly approached Bennu with its TAGSAM stretched out in front of it, briefly making contact and sending dust and small rocks flying.
It took OSIRIS-REx years to finally make it back to the Earth's orbit. After successfully dropping off its loot, it's now on its way to a different asteroid called Apophis, a journey that will take roughly 5.5 years.
Scientists are now performing a preliminary analysis of initial samples taken from outside of the TAGSAM head, scanning them with an electron microscope, X-ray, and infrared instruments.
They're hoping to find out if the samples contain any organic-rich particles or hydrated minerals, which could offer us clues about Bennu's origins.
Also at MIT Technology Review, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
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