Now we know how much material OSIRIS-REx captured from its target asteroid Bennu — and, it's a lot.
In addition to the 2.48 oz (70.3 g) sample already collected from the outside of the vial, NASA Finally OSIRIS-REx was able to fully open the sample container and find another 1.81 oz (51.2 g) asteroid. Determine Inside.
OSIRIS-REx its completion Asteroid A sample return mission when the probe parachutes back into a tightly sealed container Earth Its next space rock target, Apophis, is named before it begins its second mission, named OSIRIS-APEX, on September 24, 2023.
The first portions of asteroids captured by NASA with this container have been returned for further study. Sep. The mission, which began in 2016 and the capsule's safe recovery last year, marked the ceremonial end of an epic seven-year journey. Space. However, once NASA technicians got hold of the sample container, they ran into a few problems — it was extremely difficult to open.
Related: First look at Bennu asteroid samples suggests space rock may even be 'a fragment of an ancient ocean world'
OSIRIS-REx's original mission goal was to collect up to 2.12 ounces (60 grams) of material, which actually encountered even bits of Bennu found on the outside of the container. However, the team knew there had to be more inside.
So, to access the entire Bennu sample, NASA teams began designing a new tool to open the sealed container.
To talk about specifics, the container was actually protected inside a large enclosure, built for protection during the probe's arduous journey. When OSIRIS-REx collected its asteroid samples in space, part of the material remained inside this protective envelope, but outside the designated sample container, gifting scientists with some of the Bennu sample before the main canister was opened.
Exceeding their expectations, mission operators were able to collect 2.48 ounces (70.3 grams) before opening the inaccessible part of the OSIRIS-REx return capsule. Still, scientists and space enthusiasts everywhere were waiting to see what OSIRIS-REx's colossal sample total would be. Now, with the new instrument available, scientists have access to all of the study's asteroid samples, and the results are in.
In addition to the samples already collected, OSIRIS-REx returned a total of 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams) of material from the asteroid Bennu — twice the mission's target and the largest asteroid sample ever collected, according to a recent NASA report. liberation. By comparison, the Japanese Aerospace Agency's Hayabusa2 mission brought back only about 0.18 ounces (5 grams) of material from its asteroid target Ryuku in December 2020.
The study of the samples has already begun, and scientists have used the collected samples to discover a “whole zone of matter” that was previously inaccessible. MeteoritesAccording to Dante Lauretta, Principal Investigator of OSIRIS-REx. Bennu is believed to be a remnant of the earliest The Solar SystemAnd scientists think studying these samples could help unravel some of the mysteries of early planetary development.
A quarter of the Bennu sample will be with researchers in the OSIRIS-REx research team. NASA plans to preserve at least 70 percent of the sample for study by scientists around the world and for future generations of researchers.
