NASA unveils first asteroid sample brought back

[New Sancai Compilation First Edition] On October 11, NASA (United States Space Administration) showed the public what scientists found in a tightly closed jar that returned to Earth last month, carrying the history of digging from the asteroid surface. largest soil sample ever produced.

Material collected by the OSRIS-REx spacecraft from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu three years ago will be released at NASA's Johnston Space Center in Houston, about two weeks after it touched down in the Utah desert.

The landing of the return capsule brings a successful conclusion to a six-year joint mission between NASA and the University of Arizona. This is only the third asteroid sample so far, and it is the largest, and this sample will be analyzed by the scientific community. The Japanese Space Agency previously conducted similar missions in 2010 and 2020.

Like other asteroids, Bennu is a remnant of the early solar system. Because its chemistry and mineralogy have changed little since its formation about 4.5 billion years ago, it holds clues to the origin and development of rocky planets like Earth, and possibly even the evolution of life.

The capsule and its contents were initially inspected in a "clean room" at the Utah Test and Training Range near the landing site. The capsule was then transported to Johnston Space Center and its inner canisters were opened so that the samples could be divided into smaller portions and promised to be made available to approximately 200 scientists in 60 laboratories around the world.

Upon landing, the Bennu sample was estimated to have weighed approximately 100 to 250 grams (3.5 to 8.8 ounces).

NASA will also reveal more precise measurements and confirm whether its goal of collecting pristine samples completely free of terrestrial contamination was achieved. Whether composed of rocks, pebbles, fine particles or dust, they will also reveal the physical properties of its material such as density, color and form.

In 2020, samples brought back by Japan's Hayabusa2 mission from another near-Earth asteroid Ryugu were found to contain two organic compounds, which supports a theory that celestial bodies such as comets, asteroids, and meteorites bombarded the early Earth. , sowing the seeds and ingredients of primitive life for this young earth.

Scientists say Bennu, a small, carbon-rich object discovered in 1999, appears to be composed of a loose collection of rocks, like a pile of rubble. At about 500 meters in diameter, it is slightly wider than the Empire State Building, but tall and small compared with the Chicxulub asteroid that struck Earth about 66 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs.

OSIRIS-REx launched in 2016 and arrived at Bennu in 2018, then spent nearly two years orbiting the asteroid before finally venturing close enough on October 20, 2020 to grab the loose surface with a robotic arm Sample of substance.

NASA will launch a single mission to a more distant asteroid called Psyche, a metal-rich object thought to be the remnant core of a protoplanet and the centerpiece of the solar system The largest known metal object in .

(Compiled by: Wang Huiming)

(Editor: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: First published by Xinsancai)