Scientists looked at particles contained in samples from the asteroid Bennu. They found not only what they expected, but also elements that gave them a headache to identify.
Asteroid Bennu is the target of the OSIRIS-REx space mission organized by NASA. The poll was sent on September 8, 2016 as part of the New Frontiers program. It was assumed that OSIRIS-REx would provide clues to the origins of life on Earth. Fragments of the asteroid (approx. 250 g) were collected at the end of 2020. The capsule with samples reached Earth two months ago, and on Monday, December 11, the first detailed description of some of the collected extraterrestrial substances appeared.
NASA allowed scientists from the United States, as well as Canada and Japan, to participate in the research, although the former received the most materials from those that were made available. As many as three-quarters of the samples were deposited intact for future generations of scientists.
All particles are very dark in color and consist of centimeter and millimeter “humpback boulders”. As scientists explain, they have a “rough texture reminiscent of cauliflower” and “cling to everything we touch them.” Most of them are materials that scientists expected.
“We certainly have hydrated, organic-rich remnants from the early solar system, which is exactly what we were hoping for,” Dante Lauretta, the mission’s principal investigator, said at the American Geophysical Union conference.
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However, the material delivered to Earth also contains significant amounts of magnesium, sodium and phosphorus. This poses a puzzle for the team of scientists.
“I’ve been looking at meteorites for a long time and I’ve never come across anything like this,” Lauretta said.
Mateusz Tomczak, journalist of Wirtualna Polska
2023-12-15 00:09:00
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