Global Courant
Dark, sand-sized powder particles found when the lid was opened on the Osiris-REx spacecraft collecting samples from an asteroid.
Scientists from the US space agency NASA found ‘black dust and debris’ when they opened the space capsule that recently returned to Earth containing the largest sample of an asteroid ever returned from space.
NASA said Tuesday that researchers discovered “dust and debris on the avionics deck of the Osiris-REx science bus when the original cover was removed today.”
The space agency did not specify whether the materials discovered when opening the probe’s lid definitely belonged to the asteroid, although NASA said on social media that “scientists gasped when the lid of the (Osiris-REx) sample return canister asteroid was lifted”.
“A scientific treasure chest,” NASA Astromaterials said in a social media post.
“Dark powder and sand-sized particles” were found on “the inside of the lid and base,” NASA said.
“A scientific treasure chest.”
Scientists gasped as the lid was lifted off #OSIRISREx asteroid sample return canister, with dark powder and sand particles on the inside of the lid and base.
Read more from the @NASA_Johnson curation laboratory: pic.twitter.com/t43QEDLH7G
— NASA Astromaterials (@Astromaterials) September 26, 2023
The residue on the avionics deck found Tuesday was likely the result of problems during the collection phase of the space mission, which NASA said were eventually resolved, allowing safe transfer of the sample from the asteroid to the probe’s storage canister .
The probe’s lid was opened in an airtight chamber at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
“The aluminum cover was removed into a glove box designed to accommodate the large piece of hardware,” NASA reported this in a statementaccompanied by images shared on social media showing scientists working in full protective gear while the probe sits in a reinforced glass and steel box.
NASA scientists are now eagerly waiting to begin analyzing the bulk of the sample extracted from the asteroid, which will require a “complicated disassembly” of the probe, the space agency said.
A press conference is planned for October 11 at which information about the bulk of the sample will be revealed to the public.
The robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-REx was launched in 2016 and collected its specimen three years ago from Bennu, a small, carbon-rich asteroid discovered in 1999 that is classified as a ‘near-Earth object’ because it passes relatively close to our planet . every six years.
The retrieval marked only the third asteroid sample, and by far the largest, ever returned to Earth for analysis, following two similar Japanese Space Agency missions that ended in 2010 and 2020.
Osiris-Rex landed on the asteroid and collected about 250 grams of dust from the rocky surface. Analysis of the material extracted from the asteroid will help researchers better understand the formation of the solar system and how Earth became habitable, scientists say.
NASA said the sample “will also help us better understand the types of asteroids that could threaten Earth.”
Although the chance of Bennu hitting Earth is considered small, such a possibility cannot be ruled out.
About a quarter of the Bennu sample will be used immediately in experiments and a small portion will be sent to mission partners in Japan and Canada, while the rest will be retained for research by future generations.
The spacecraft ended its 6.21 billion kilometer (3.86 billion mile) journey after parachuting into the desert in the western state of Utah on Sunday, following a fiery descent through Earth’s atmosphere.
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