The sample, consisting of black dust and small pieces of rock, was collected by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft from the surface of the asteroid Bennu.
The samples come from a carbon-rich asteroid
The presentation, which was held at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, was attended by NASA scientists and managers. The black dust and rock fragments come from the carbon-rich asteroid Bennu,
Which is located about 96 million kilometers from Earth.
NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected the samples three years ago, then returned and dropped the samples back to Earth in a capsule as it passed by.
According to scientists, a much larger number of samples have now reached Earth than what the Japanese space probe Hayabusa-2 collected from the Ryugu asteroid in 2019. However, they have not yet been able to determine the exact amount of the substance, because the main chamber of the capsule was not yet open.
The successful mission began in 2016
“We’re moving slowly and carefully,” said Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, the mission’s principal scientist. He added that it is indeed a scientific sensation to be able to examine dust and particles at the edge of the room.
OSIRIS-REx is the first American spacecraft to collect a sample from an asteroid. It was launched in September 2016 from Cape Canaveral Space Center in Florida.
After sending the capsule containing the sample to Earth, the spacecraft headed to another asteroid, Apophis, and its mission was extended for nine years.
