![]() ![]() Nasa has lots more asteroid projects planned. “Every bit of sample is valuable,” Dworkin said. They won’t know for certain how much is on board until the capsule is opened after touchdown. Scientists initially thought the spacecraft stored 2 pounds (1kg) of asteroid rubble, but more recently revised their estimate downward. ![]() The precious samples will be housed at a new lab under construction at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, already home to hundreds of pounds of lunar material collected by the 12 Apollo moonwalkers from 1969 to 1972. The SUV-size spacecraft will circle the sun twice before delivering its small sample capsule to Utah’s desert floor on 24 September 2023, to end the more than $800m mission. They also could improve Earth’s odds against any incoming rocks.Īlthough the asteroid is 178m miles (287m kilometers) away, Osiris-Rex will put another 1.4bn miles (2.3bn kilometers) on its odometer to catch up with Earth. ![]() The returning pieces could shed light on how the planets formed and how life arose on Earth. The asteroid is an estimated 1,600 feet (490 meters) wide and 4.5bn years old.īennu – considered a broken chunk from a bigger asteroid – is believed to hold the preserved building blocks of the solar system. Scientists hope to uncover some of the solar system’s secrets from the samples vacuumed last October from Bennu’s dark, rough, carbon-rich surface. Osiris-Rex was already nearly 200 miles (300km) from the solar-orbiting Bennu when it fired its main engines Monday afternoon for a fast, clean get-away.Ĭolorado-based flight controllers for spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin applauded when confirmation arrived of the spacecraft’s departure: “We’re bringing the samples home!” “I’ve been working on getting a sample back from an asteroid since my daughter was in diapers and now she’s graduating from high school, so it’s been a long journey,” said Jason Dworkin, a Nasa project scientist.Īdded Lauretta: “We have gotten used to being at Bennu and seeing new and exciting images and data coming back to us here on Earth.” Scientists described Monday’s departure from Bennu’s neighborhood as bittersweet. ![]()
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