The Osiris-Rex spacecraft briefly touched down on the asteroid Bennu this week. This was NASA's first attempt
Mission Lead Scientist Dante Lauretta stated thatthe operation collected much more material than was expected to return to Earth. We are talking about hundreds of grams, although it was planned to deliver only 60 grams. However, the sample container at the end of the NASA robot arm penetrated so deep into the asteroid and with such force that rocks jammed the edges of the lid.
“We have almost become a victim of our own success,” Lauretta said at a hastily organized press conference.
Scientists were surprised - and then alarmed - atThursday, when they saw pictures taken by Osiris-Rex after successfully touching Bennu two days earlier. A cloud of asteroid particles could be seen circling the spacecraft as it receded from Bennu. The situation stabilized when the robot's arm was locked in place, Laurette said. But it was impossible to know exactly how many particles had already been lost.
Experts determined that the collection of material wasproduced from a depth of 48 centimeters. Now experts intend to speed up the process of moving the soil into a special capsule for delivery to Earth. The mission's lead scientist admitted that air traffic controllers could do nothing else to remove obstacles and prevent more Bennu particles from escaping.
“Time is of the essence,” said NASA science mission director Thomas Zurbuchen.
This is NASA's first sampling mission.asteroids. Bennu was chosen because its carbon-rich material is believed to contain the preserved building blocks of our solar system. Retrieving pieces of this cosmic “time capsule” could help scientists better understand how planets formed billions of years ago and how life began on Earth in the first place.
Osiris-REx, which has been in operation for two yearsin orbit Bennu, on Wednesday night, collected soil samples from the asteroid. Landing was not required: after the descent, the device touched the surface to grab the rock using a 3.35 m long manipulator arm with a sample collection unit. Osiris-REx was supposed to release a stream of gaseous nitrogen under pressure and collect the dust that had risen from the surface with a special pump.
Osiris-Rex will leave the vicinity of the asteroidin March is the earliest possible departure, given the relative location of Earth and Bennu. The samples won't return until 2023, seven years after the spacecraft left Cape Canaveral.
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