In an exciting development, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has reached a significant milestone by opening the canister containing samples collected from the asteroid Bennu after a journey spanning more than seven years. This achievement comes just two days after the return capsule of OSIRIS-REx touched down in the northern Utah desert.
Scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston carefully lifted the outer lid of the canister on Tuesday, September 26th, causing astonishment among the team. The moment was described as breathtaking, capturing the attention of space enthusiasts and scientists alike.
Upon opening the canister, the operation revealed “dark powder and sand-sized particles on the inside of the lid and base,” according to NASA’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) division, based at JSC. These particles once inhabited the surface of the asteroid Bennu, which has been the primary focus of the OSIRIS-REx mission.
The journey to collect these precious samples began in September 2016 when OSIRIS-REx launched toward Bennu. After arriving in December 2018, the spacecraft successfully collected a substantial sample from the asteroid’s surface in October 2020 using its Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM).
Following the return capsule’s landing in Utah on Sunday, September 24th, the precious asteroid material was swiftly transported to Houston via plane on Monday, September 25th. At JSC, the samples will be securely stored and curated. The research team will then oversee the distribution of these samples to scientists across the globe.
This asteroid sample is expected to be a treasure trove of information for researchers. Over the coming decades, scientists will meticulously analyze it to gain insights into the formation and early evolution of our solar system. Moreover, they will investigate the role that carbon-rich asteroids like Bennu may have played in delivering essential building blocks of life to Earth.
However, accessing the main asteroid sample is not an immediate task. It requires a complex disassembly of the TAGSAM apparatus, which will be undertaken with utmost precision to avoid any contamination or damage to the samples. In a blog post, JSC officials emphasized the team’s dedication to handling this critical process with extreme care, ensuring that the sample remains pristine and ready for groundbreaking scientific analysis.
This achievement marks another step forward in our understanding of the universe and the mysteries it holds. The OSIRIS-REx mission continues to be a testament to human ingenuity and determination in the pursuit of knowledge about the cosmos. Scientists and space enthusiasts worldwide eagerly await the groundbreaking discoveries that this asteroid sample will undoubtedly yield.
