Six years and greater than 200 million miles later, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is lastly on its means residence from the asteroid Bennu. In just below a yr, on Sept. 24, 2023, the mission’s pattern collector — a basket filled with asteroid mud and rocks — will return to Earth’s floor, whereas the spacecraft itself zooms on to its subsequent vacation spot.
This week on the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2022 Fall Assembly held in Chicago and just about, planetary scientists gathered to debate what to anticipate from subsequent yr’s OSIRIS-REx pattern return. Their new yr’s decision? To get this asteroid pattern residence and right into a lab safely, preserving it for many years of science to come back.
OSIRIS-REx, extra formally Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Useful resource Identification-Safety-Regolith Explorer, launched in 2016 and spent nearly three years exploring Bennu, an historic asteroid whose orbit crosses Earth’s.
Associated: Dramatic sampling exhibits asteroid Bennu is nothing like scientists anticipated
The house rock is a very fascinating goal for each science and planetary protection, which focuses on defending Earth from asteroid impacts. Bennu is a sort of asteroid that astronomers count on hasn’t modified a lot because it shaped, making it a well-preserved specimen from the early photo voltaic system — a window again in time. Because it’s orbit passes Earth’s, nonetheless, Bennu can also be a risk (albeit an unlikely one) to humanity, and understanding its nature could also be essential if a future mission tries to maneuver it out of Earth’s path.
The mission orbited Bennu, amassing photographs and different knowledge of the asteroid, then approached the floor to make use of its small sample-collecting arm. This contraption, referred to as the TAGSAM, collected between 5 and 12 ounces (150 to 350 grams) of asteroid materials — in regards to the weight of a hamster, and way more than the deliberate 2 ounces (60 g). The truth is, TAGSAM caught a lot asteroid materials that rubble truly began leaking and overflowing its container.
“The truth that we bought greater than we thought we’d nonetheless means each small gram of that asteroid materials continues to be tremendous useful to us,” Nicole Lunning, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Johnson House Middle in Texas, stated throughout a media occasion on the AGU assembly on Monday (Dec. 12).
The pattern of Bennu’s rock and dirt nonetheless has an extended strategy to go, with nearly a yr of house journey time left. However from getting into Earth’s atmosphere to touching down in a flat area of Utah, the pattern return capsule’s journey will solely take 13 minutes. The primary precedence as soon as the capsule lands is to get it right into a clear room instantly, guaranteeing that the pattern is not contaminated with Earth mud. Inside just a few days, it will likely be flown to its ultimate residence at Johnson House Middle for additional research.
Of the pattern, 75% shall be preserved for future scientists, whereas the remaining 25% shall be analyzed and cataloged by the OSIRIS-REx staff. They even have particular tools, like vacuum tweezers, to make sure they collect each little bit of the house gunk coating the spacecraft. After an preliminary evaluation, Lunning says they may “actually fastidiously and slowly, methodically, acquire all that valuable mud.”
The primary preliminary outcomes needs to be accessible by Oct. 2, 2023, she stated, with way more to come back as scientists dig into the info.
And though the pattern capsule is coming again to Earth, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft itself is just dropping by for a fast howdy earlier than persevering with via the internal photo voltaic system. The venture was just lately permitted for an prolonged mission to rendezvous with the well-known harbinger of destruction, the asteroid Apophis.
The spacecraft cannot acquire one other pattern, since that piece of apparatus has already been used, however the staff is wanting ahead to getting a close-up take a look at a distinct hazardous near-Earth asteroid. The spacecraft is because of arrive only a week earlier than Apophis makes a very shut method to Earth, and can research the house rock for about 18 months.
However first, there’s tons to study as soon as our piece of Bennu hits the bottom only one quick yr from now.
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