Major asteroid sample brought to Earth in NASA first:
A seven-year space voyage came to its climactic end on Sunday when a NASA capsule landed in the desert in the US state of Utah, carrying to Earth the largest asteroid samples ever collected.
Scientists have high hopes for the sample, saying it will provide a better understanding of the formation of our solar system and how Earth became habitable.
“Touchdown of the Osiris-Rex sample return capsule!” a commentator said on NASA’s live video webcast of the landing, as engineers and team members applauded at a nearby mission control center.
Completing a 3.86-billion-mile (6.21 billion-kilometer) journey, it marked the United States’ first sample return mission of its kind, the US space agency said in a post on X, the former Twitter.
NASA chief Bill Nelson hailed the mission and said the asteroid dust “will give scientists an extraordinary glimpse into the beginnings of our solar system”.
The Osiris-Rex probe’s final, fiery descent through Earth’s atmosphere was perilous, but NASA managed to engineer a soft landing at 8:52 am local time (1452 GMT), in the military’s Utah Test and Training Range.
Four years after its 2016 launch, the probe had landed on the asteroid Bennu and collected what NASA estimated is roughly nine ounces (250 grams) of dust from its rocky surface.
Even that small amount, NASA says, should “help us better understand the types of asteroids that could threaten Earth.”
The sample return “is really historic,” NASA scientist Amy Simon told AFP. “This is going to be the biggest sample we’ve brought back since the Apollo moon rocks” were returned to Earth.
Osiris-Rex released its capsule early Sunday from an altitude of more than 67,000 miles.
The fiery passage through the atmosphere came only in the last 13 minutes, as the capsule hurtled downward at a speed of more than 27,000 miles per hour, with temperatures of up to 5,000 Fahrenheit (2,760 Celsius).
Its rapid descent was supposed to be slowed by two successive parachutes as it made its way to the 37-mile by nine-mile landing zone.
The main chute, however, deployed “much higher than was originally anticipated,” at about 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) rather than 5,000 feet, NASA said.
NASA images showed the tire-sized capsule on the ground in a desert wash, with scientists approaching the device and taking readings.
Eventually they concluded the capsule was not breached, meaning its all-important air-tight seal remained intact, avoiding any contamination of the sample with desert sands.
The team then lifted the capsule by helicopter to a nearby “clean room.”
Meanwhile, the probe that made the space journey fired its engines and shifted course away from Earth, NASA said, “on its way” for a date with another asteroid, known as Apophis.
Scientists predict that asteroid will come within 20,000 miles of Earth in 2029.
Japanese samples
On Monday, the sample heads to Johnson Space Center in Houston for additional study, and NASA plans to announce its first results at a news conference October 11.
Most of the sample will be conserved for study by future generations. Roughly one-fourth will be immediately used in experiments, and a small amount will be sent to mission partners Japan and Canada.
Japan had earlier given NASA a few grains from asteroid Ryugu, after bringing 0.2 ounces of dust to Earth in 2020 during the Hayabusa-2 mission. Ten years before, it had brought back a microscopic quantity from another asteroid.
But the sample from Bennu is much larger, allowing for significantly more testing, Simon said.
Earth’s origin story
Asteroids are composed of the original materials of the solar system, dating back some 4.5 billion years, and have remained relatively intact.
They “can give us clues about how the solar system formed and evolved,” said Osiris-Rex program executive Melissa Morris.
“It’s our own origin story.”
By striking Earth’s surface, “we do believe asteroids and comets delivered organic material, potentially water, that helped life flourish here on Earth,” Simon said.
Scientists believe Bennu, about 500 meters (1,640 feet) in diameter, is rich in carbon — a building block of life on Earth — and contains water molecules locked in minerals.
Bennu surprised scientists in 2020 when the probe, during its brief contact with the asteroid’s surface, sank into the soil, revealing an unexpectedly low density, like a children’s pool filled with plastic balls.
Understanding its composition could come in handy in the — distant — future.
For there is a slight, but non-zero, chance (one in 2,700) that Bennu could collide catastrophically with Earth, though not until 2182.
But NASA last year successfully deviated the course of an asteroid by crashing a probe into it in a test, and it might at some point need to repeat that exercise — but with much higher stakes.
© Agence France-Presse
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NASA readies for dramatic return of asteroid sample to Earth:
The climactic end of a seven-year voyage comes on Sunday when a NASA capsule is due to land in the Utah desert, carrying to Earth the largest asteroid samples ever collected.
Scientists have high hopes for the sample, saying it will provide a better understanding of the formation of our solar system and how Earth became habitable.
The Osiris-Rex probe’s final, fiery descent through Earth’s atmosphere will be perilous, but the US space agency is hoping for a soft landing, around 9:00am local (15H00 GMT), in a military test range in northwestern Utah.
Four years after its 2016 launch, the probe landed on the asteroid Bennu and collected roughly nine ounces (250 grams) of dust from its rocky surface.
Even that small amount, NASA says, should “help us better understand the types of asteroids that could threaten Earth” and cast light “on the earliest history of our solar system,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
“This sample return is really historic,” NASA scientist Amy Simon told AFP. “This is going to be the biggest sample we’ve brought back since the Apollo moon rocks” were returned to Earth.
But the capsule’s return will require “a dangerous manoeuvre,” she acknowledged.
Osiris-Rex is set to release the capsule – from an altitude of more than 67,000 miles (108,000 kilometers) – some four hours before it lands.
The fiery passage through the atmosphere will come only in the last 13 minutes, as the capsule hurtles downward at a speed of more than 27,000 miles per hour, with temperatures of up to 5,000 Fahrenheit (2,760 Celsius).
Its rapid descent, monitored by army sensors, will be slowed by two successive parachutes. Should they fail to deploy correctly, a “hard landing” would follow.
If it appears that the target zone (37 by 9 miles) might be missed, NASA controllers could decide at the last moment not to release the capsule.
The probe would then keep its cargo and make another orbit of the sun. Scientists would have to wait until 2025 before trying a new landing.
If it succeeds, however, Osiris-Rex would head toward a date with another asteroid.
Japanese samples
Once the tyre-sized capsule touches down in Utah, a team in protective masks and gloves will place it in a net to be airlifted by helicopter to a temporary “clean room” nearby.
NASA wants this done as quickly and carefully as possible to avoid any contamination of the sample with desert sands, skewing test results.
On Monday, assuming all goes well, the sample will be flown by plane to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. There, the box will be opened in another “clean room” – the beginning of a days-long process.
NASA plans to announce its first results at a news conference October 11.
Most of the sample will be conserved for study by future generations. Roughly one-fourth of it will be immediately used in experiments, and a small amount will be sent to Japan and Canada, partners in the mission.
Japan had earlier given NASA a few grains from the asteroid Ryugu, after bringing 0.2 ounce of dust to Earth in 2020 during the Hayabusa-2 mission. Ten years before, it had brought back a microscopic quantity from another asteroid.
But the sample from Bennu is much larger, allowing for significantly more testing, Simon said.
Earth’s origin story
Asteroids are composed of the original materials of the solar system, dating to some 4.5 billion years ago, and have remained relatively intact.
They “can give us clues about how the solar system formed and evolved,” said Osiris-Rex programme executive Melissa Morris.
“It’s our own origin story.”
By striking Earth’s surface, “we do believe asteroids and comets delivered organic material, potentially water, that helped life flourish here on Earth,” Simon said.
Scientists believe Bennu, which is 1,640 feet in diameter, is rich in carbon – a building block of life on Earth – and contains water molecules locked in minerals.
Bennu had surprised scientists in 2020 when the probe, during the few seconds of contact with the asteroid’s surface, had sunk into the soil, revealing an unexpectedly low density, sort of like a children’s pool filled with plastic balls.
Understanding its composition could come in handy in the distant future, for there is a slight, but non-zero, chance (one in 2,700) that Bennu could collide catastrophically with Earth, though not until 2182.
But NASA last year succeeded in deviating the course of an asteroid by crashing a probe into it in a test, and it might at some point need to repeat that exercise, but with much higher stakes.
© Agence France-Presse
The post NASA readies for dramatic return of asteroid sample to Earth appeared first on The Mail & Guardian.
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