2023-09-25 13:45:19
The OSIRIS-REx space probe has completed its spectacular mission to the asteroid Bennu.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) space probe left Earth in 2016 and arrived at the asteroid Bennu in 2018. After an extensive series of observations and also the collection of samples from the ground, on May 10, 2021 the ship began the return journey to Earth.
On September 24, 2023, OSIRIS-REx released the capsule containing the Bennu samples when it was 102,000 kilometers from the Earth’s surface (approximately one-third of the distance between the Moon and Earth). The capsule completed the rest of the journey to Earth on its own.
Flying at about 44,500 kilometers per hour, the capsule began to cross the atmosphere when it was off the coast of California. Ten minutes later it reached the surface of the Earth, landing on the land of a US military testing range, specifically one near Salt Lake City, in Utah.
Braking during descent was achieved with the help of two parachutes. Contact with the ground was made at 18 kilometers per hour.
An hour and a half after landing, the capsule was transported by helicopter to a temporary clean room installed in a hangar at the test site, where it was connected to a continuous flow of nitrogen.
Subjecting the sample to a “nitrogen purge,” as scientists call it, was one of the most critical tasks that day for the OSIRIS-REx team. Nitrogen is a gas that does not interact with most chemicals, and a continuous flow of it in the sample container inside the capsule has served to prevent the action of terrestrial contaminants and thus preserve pure samples for analysis. scientists.
The OSIRIS-REx capsule rests on the desert terrain of the Utah military testing range shortly after landing. (Photo: NASA / Keegan Barber)
Samples collected from Bennu will help scientists around the world make discoveries about the formation of planets and the origin of organic matter and water that gave rise to life on Earth.
The material collected from Bennu weighs about 250 grams.
Transporting the closed container by plane to a special facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will be followed by opening the container, removing the material, making an inventory of the pebbles and dust, and finally distributing it to laboratories of various nations to carry out sophisticated analyzes and research based on them.
For its part, the mother ship continues traveling through space. If all goes well, it will carry out a new mission, whose destination will be the asteroid Apophis (Apophis), known for how dangerously close to Earth it could one day pass during its orbital journey around the Sun. (Source: NCYT from Amazings )
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