2023-09-22 17:54:55
The NASA mission will drop a capsule to Earth on Sunday September 24 containing samples taken from the asteroid Bennu. Their analysis will mobilize hundreds of scientists.
It is a cosmic delivery which is planned for Sunday September 24, at 4:55 p.m. precisely. Origin: the asteroid Bennu, a sort of obese cubic top 500 meters in diameter, currently located 80 million kilometers from Earth. The package from the sky will be “deposited” by parachute in the salt desert of Utah after a perilous re-entry into the atmosphere at nearly 45,000 km/h. This is more than 10 times the speed of a rifle bullet. A cone-shaped heat shield must protect the cargo from heating up the air, with temperatures that could rise up to 2800°C. It is very possible that the phenomenon gives rise to a long luminous trail, like an endless shooting star visible in broad daylight. It will take 13 minutes between entry into the first layers of the atmosphere, at an altitude of 130 km, and arrival on the ground.
These minutes promise to be distressing for the mission’s scientists. The contents of the ship are also fragile…
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