Asteroid Sample Capsule Containing 4.6 Billion-Year-Old Materials to Land in Utah Desert
A capsule containing one of the oldest materials ever formed in our solar system is set to land in the Utah desert on Sunday morning. The capsule, part of NASA’s Osiris-Rex mission, will contain about 250 grams of rubble collected from the asteroid Bennu. This precious cargo could provide valuable insights into the formation of planets and the origins of life.
The recovery of the capsule will entail a race against time as four helicopters, carrying scientists, engineers, and military safety personnel, will track its descent and retrieve the sample. The material in the capsule is composed of 4.6 billion-year-old chunks of space rock that could offer clues about the processes involved in planet formation and the emergence of habitable environments.
Ashley King, a researcher from the Natural History Museum in London, explained the significance of the sample: “Samples from asteroids such as this tell us what all those ingredients were for making a planet like the Earth and they also tell us what the recipe was – so how did those materials come together and start mixing together to end up with [habitable environments]?”
The Osiris-Rex mission, which began seven years ago, aimed to study and collect samples from the asteroid Bennu. The capsule is expected to be released from the spacecraft on Sunday at 0642 EDT and enter Earth’s atmosphere four hours later, traveling at a speed of 27,650 miles per hour. Parachutes will be deployed to slow its descent, allowing it to land at a speed of around 11 mph.
Once retrieved, the capsule will be transported to a temporary facility before being transferred to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday. Scientists stress the importance of avoiding contamination during the recovery process, although they believe there is little danger of the samples posing a risk to Earth.
One of the main objectives of the mission is to improve our ability to predict and defend against potential asteroid strikes. Analyzing the physical properties of the samples, including their density and porosity, will help in this endeavor. Bennu itself is classified as a “potentially hazardous” asteroid, with a one in 1,750 chance of colliding with Earth after the mid-2100s.
Additionally, scientists are eager to study the carbon-rich surface of Bennu to determine whether such asteroids could have delivered organic substances and water – crucial ingredients for the emergence of life – to Earth. The samples collected will be carefully analyzed by scientists working on the mission and will also be shared with NASA’s international partners.
The importance of these missions lies in providing scientists with access to pristine materials of known provenance and context. Unlike meteorites, which often have unknown origins and are contaminated during their journey through Earth’s atmosphere, the samples collected from Bennu can provide a wealth of valuable information.
The researchers involved in the mission will work diligently to characterize the minerals present in the asteroid material. Understanding the composition and history of Bennu will shed light on the conditions and processes that shaped our solar system billions of years ago.
In conclusion, the Osiris-Rex mission’s final act of recovering the asteroid sample capsule marks a significant milestone in our quest for knowledge about the formation of planets and the origins of life. The samples retrieved from Bennu could hold the key to unlocking the secrets of our cosmic history.