JAKARTA – For several months, NASA has had difficulty opening the Sample Acquisition Mechanism Touch-and-Go (TAGSAM). The robotic arm of the OSIRIS-REx aircraft carried samples of the asteroid Bennu.
Initially, sample collection is inside glovebox running smoothly. However, when NASA wanted to open the TAGSAM head, they had difficulty because there was no opening tool that could get inside glovebox.
A curation team from NASA’s Johnson Space Center finally developed a new tool to open the TAGSAM head. After the device was tested, the TAGSAM head fastener was successfully opened and samples began to be collected again.
The remaining Bennu samples were transferred into an airtight container. The remains of this asteroid have been calculated and weigh 70.3 grams. When combined with the previously calculated samples, the amount reaches 121.6 grams.
The results of this calculation show that the OSIRIS-REx mission successfully reached its target. The craft only needed to bring back 60 grams of material, but the amount doubled, making Bennu the largest asteroid ever collected.
Of the 121.6 grams of sample, NASA will store 70 percent of the sample at Johnson for research purposes. This stored material will be studied by scientists from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and many more.
All information regarding Bennu and its material components will be released in catalog form. A document containing this list of information will be shared with the entire global scientific community next spring.
Tag: nasa outer space asteroids
2024-02-20 11:05:00
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