As reported by Digital Lookthe capsule containing a sample from the asteroid Bennu was successfully delivered to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx mission this Sunday (24).
This is the first time that NASA has managed to bring fragments of a space rock to our planet.
On Saturday (23), after seven years of mission, covering a total of 6.2 billion kilometers (round trip, survey and return), the spacecraft launched the “package” into Earth’s orbit at an altitude of 101 km, and continued journey towards the asteroid Apophis, which should get closer by 2029.
With the aid of parachutes, the capsule landed at 11:52 am (Brasília time), in the western USA, in the desert region around the Utah Military Test and Training Field. It reached speeds of up to 43,450 km/h and its heat shield experienced temperatures of up to 2,900ºC as it passed through the Earth’s atmosphere – taking approximately 13 minutes to reach the ground.
Just over half an hour later, two NASA employees approached to check if the process had damaged the casing. He was then connected to a helicopter via a longline and transported to a temporary clean room set up at the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground.
The agency shared on X (formerly Twitter) the moment the capsule arrived at the location, being received by a technical team, following all required safety protocols.
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Your package has been delivered.
The #OSIRISREx sample return capsule containing rock and dust collected in space from asteroid Bennu has arrived at temporary clean room in Utah. The 4.5-billion-year-old sample will soon head to @NASA_Johnson for curation and analysis. pic.twitter.com/Ke0PcDAKt0
— NASA (@NASA) September 24, 2023
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Asteroids like Bennu were formed about 4.5 billion years ago, around the time the Solar System’s planets were emerging. “The carbonaceous rocks that make up Bennu preserve samples of the dust cloud that gave rise to the Solar System,” said Marcelo Zurita, president of the Paraibana Astronomy Association (APA), member of the Brazilian Astronomical Society (SAB), technical director of the Network Brazilian Meteor Observator (Bramon) and columnist for Olhar Digital. “This means that studying material from asteroids like this one could help reveal the state and composition of matter around the ‘baby’ Sun, and even help explain the origins of life here on Earth.”
According to NASA, for two years, from the end of 2023 to 2025, the sample will be cataloged and analyzed. At least 75% of the content will be preserved at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston for future research.
JSC staff will oversee the distribution of the remainder to more than 200 researchers around the world, who will investigate it for a variety of purposes.
One line of study, for example, will focus on organic compounds, such as carbon. Scientists believe that asteroids rich in this element, like Bennu, may have helped life establish itself on Earth by delivering organics through impacts.
2023-09-24 21:19:00
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