NASA Opens Metal Canister Holding Rocks from Asteroid Bennu in Historic Mission
In a historic mission, NASA has successfully opened the metal canister holding rocks from the asteroid Bennu. After months of effort, scientists at Johnson Space Center managed to release the stubborn fasteners on the canister’s lid, allowing access to the precious samples. The canister, which parachuted down to Earth from outer space, has been kept isolated inside a specially-designed glovebox for safety reasons.
The lid is finally open, and NASA has captured an image of the bulk of the asteroid material collected from Bennu. This marks a significant achievement for the agency’s first-ever mission to bring pristine pieces of an asteroid back to Earth, known as OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer).
The samples retrieved from Bennu are of immense value to scientists. Asteroid Bennu is like a time capsule from our ancient solar system, with an estimated age of 4.5 billion years. By studying these pristine rocks, scientists hope to gain insights into the formation of planets and the origins of Earth’s water. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft approached Bennu in October 2020 and used its Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) to collect the samples. By blowing nitrogen gas onto the asteroid for just five seconds, the spacecraft propelled rocks and dust into the canister.
Now that chunks of Bennu are safely stored at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the agency’s science team will spend the next two years intensively studying these samples. However, NASA doesn’t plan to keep the samples to itself. Over 200 scientists from around the world will have the opportunity to research Bennu’s rocks and dust. Furthermore, a portion of the asteroid sample will be preserved for future scientists to analyze using technologies that may not exist yet.
The opening of the canister holding the rocks from asteroid Bennu is a significant milestone for NASA and the scientific community. It represents a breakthrough in space exploration and offers the promise of unlocking secrets about our solar system’s history. As scientists delve into the samples over the coming years, we can only wonder what new discoveries and revelations await us.