NASA will release on Wednesday the first images of the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space, as well as the first analyzes of its composition, which scientists around the world are eagerly awaiting.
The Osiris-Rex mission took this sample from the asteroid Bennu in 2020, and the capsule containing the precious cargo successfully returned to Earth just over two weeks ago, landing in the American desert.
Since then, the painstaking process of opening the capsule has taken place in a white room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. And the operation already has a few surprises in store.
“There is so much material that it will take us longer than expected to recover it,” said Christopher Snead, a scientist at NASA. But this is “the biggest problem we can have,” he added in a press release.
The laboratory where samples of the asteroid Bennu collected by the Osiris-Rex probe are analyzed, July 24, 2023 in Houston, Texas
AFP/Archives
According to estimates by the US space agency, the capsule managed to collect around 250 grams of material from the asteroid Bennu before landing – much more than in two previous Japanese missions to other asteroids.
NASA, for which such a maneuver was a first, must confirm this estimate on Wednesday at a public event and then a press conference.
But the feedback so far couldn’t be more positive.
“An abundance” of material was also found outside the collection compartment, explained Christopher Snead. “It’s really spectacular.”
“Black Dust”
The pleasant surprise can be explained by an incident during sample collection: Shortly after the operation, NASA discovered that the collection compartment flap could not be closed.
The cargo was secured by being transferred into the capsule as planned. However, because of this leak, scientists expected that residue would be found outside the compartment in the box that housed it.
This “black dust” and “debris,” according to NASA, were entrusted to a rapid analysis team to get an initial idea of Bennu’s composition.
The sample is examined using a scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and infrared measurements.
Image from NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft taken on December 2, 2018, showing the asteroid Bennu
NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/AFP/Archives
This should make it possible to obtain an inventory of the minerals observed and possibly determine their proportion. In particular, scientists believe that Bennu contains hydrated minerals.
Studying asteroids should allow scientists to better understand the formation of the solar system and how Earth became habitable.
Some scientists believe that asteroids like Bennu may have brought to Earth the compounds that later enabled life to emerge.
The majority of the sample is preserved to be studied by future generations with new, more efficient instruments and to answer new scientific questions. This was done with the moon rocks brought back during the Apollo program.
Bennu’s analysis could also prove useful in the future. There is a slim chance (1 in 2,700) that the asteroid will hit Earth in 2182, a collision that would be catastrophic.
Knowing its exact composition could therefore one day, if necessary, help calculate the impact required to deflect its trajectory.