Novina Putri Bestari, CNBC Indonesia
Tech
Tuesday, 01/23/2024 17:40 IWST
Photo: OSIRIS-REx TAGSAM head with cover removed, showing remaining asteroid sample. (Doc: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold)
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – NASA displays the remaining asteroid samples brought from space. This comes from the asteroid Bennu which was newly mined and brought home last year.
The remaining samples were revealed after they managed to open the TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) head of the OSIRIS-REx ship last month, quoted from Gizmodo, Tuesday (23/1/2024).
But the work is not finished. There are several more steps before finally separating the samples.
The curation team will remove the round metal collar and move the remaining samples from the TAGSAM head into a smaller holder. The trays will be photographed and ultimately weighed, packaged and stored at NASA’s Johson Space Center in the Houston, Texas area.
Later the weight of the sample will be determined. That way, NASA can reveal the exact amount of this material.
Until now, it is estimated that the weight will reach 250 grams or more than the target of 60 grams. The sample consists of rock and dust.
The OSIRIS-REX mission was launched in September 2016. It was only two years later that the plane arrived at Bennu in December 2018.
The plane captured pieces of a small asteroid in 2020. In May 2021, OSIRIS-REx just made its way back to Earth.
The samples carried were dropped in the Utah desert last September. However, NASA had difficulty opening the head of the sample holder to collect it.
NASA plans to store 70% of the samples obtained and place them at the Johnson Space Center. They will conduct future research using these samples.
Meanwhile, the remaining samples will be displayed publicly at the Smithsonian Institution, Space Center Houston and the University of Arizona.
Bennu is believed to be separated from carbon-rich asteroids. By analyzing the samples, it is hoped that researchers will be able to find out the origins of the solar system.
Watch the video below:
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(npb/npb)
2024-01-23 10:40:00
#NASA #Reveals #Valuable #Treasures #Space
