On January 10, NASA engineers managed to overcome the resistance of two screws that prevented the removal of the cover from the head of the sampling mechanism. The material found inside the device includes dust and pebbles up to one centimeter in size, NASA reported on January 19 at its website on the occasion of the publication of the photo.
Image in extraordinary resolution
In order for the public to enjoy the beauty of the valuable material, Erika Blumenfeld and Joe Aebersold from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston created a high-resolution image. Thanks to this, even the general public can zoom in on the samples in extreme detail, adds the online magazine Kosmonautix.
Already this link it is possible to download the corresponding photo in a great resolution of 11648 × 8736 pixels.
The probe successfully “threw” samples from the asteroid Bennu to Earth
The several-month delay in “excavating” the samples was also caused by NASA having to have all the tools used to open the box custom-made (from surgical steel), tested and approved to prevent contamination or damage to the Bennu material. The sample will then be removed, weighed and processed.
A catalog of all samples from the planet is being prepared
Small particles “scraped” from the lid have already been sent out into the world for analysis, and the contents found inside will soon follow, the server recently recalled Live Science.
In addition, the curatorial team from NASA intends to publish a catalog of all Bennu samples by the end of the year, which will allow scientists and institutions around the world to submit, for example, additional requests for the possibility of examination.
A box of rock and dust samples taken by the OSIRIS-REx probe on Bennu in 2020 successfully landed on Earth last September. After a seven-year round trip, the capsule deployed its parachute and landed safely in the Utah desert before being transferred to the Johnson Space Center.
Last October, NASA chief Bill Nelson revealed the first rock samples that OSIRIS-REx brought to Earth from the planet 1.9 billion kilometers away.
NASA showed samples from the asteroid Bennu. They traveled 1.9 billion kilometers to Earth
“Initial analysis showed that these are samples with abundant water content in the form of hydrated clay minerals. These contain carbon that you can see, both organic and inorganic molecules,” Nelson described at the time.
The sample, totaling about 250 grams of rocky space debris (including the now recovered portion), represents a major achievement for NASA. The goal of removing at least 60 grams of dust and rocks was achieved anyway, the office assured earlier, despite reports that some of the material removed from the surface of the asteroid fell out of the apparatus.
Bennu is a potentially dangerous asteroid that has a 1 in 2700 chance of hitting Earth in 2182. However, scientists are more interested in what is hidden inside the space rock – it is supposed to be the basic building blocks of life on Earth.
The NASA probe lost part of the samples from the asteroid, but it still has enough
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2024-01-22 10:39:47
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