NASA reveals its historic sample of the asteroid Bennu – DW – 10/11/2023

Sample collected in asteroid Bennu, It is 4.5 billion years old and contains abundant amounts of water and carbon, which are vital materials for the formation of our planet, according to what astronomers say. NASA revealed this Wednesday (11/10/2023).

This discovery provides further evidence for the theory that the foundations of life on Earth were laid in outer space.

“The first analysis shows that the samples contain abundant water in the form of hydrated clay minerals,” Bill Nelson said in a press conference.

“This is the largest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever returned to Earth,” he added, as carbon exists in the form of minerals and organic molecules.

Osiris Rex

The OSIRIS-REx mission has been assembled Bennu rocks and dust In 2020, a capsule containing the precious cargo successfully returned to Earth just over two weeks ago, landing in the Utah desert.

It is now being thoroughly analyzed in a specialized clean room NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.

OSIRIS-REx is not the first mission to collide with an asteroid and return samples for study: Japan has succeeded twice, bringing back pieces of space gravel in 2010 and 2020.

But the sheer amount of material (about 250 grams, versus the 5.4 grams returned by Japan’s Hayabusa2) is a key difference.

Asteroid Bennu

NASA chose Bennu because it believes similar asteroids may have brought organic components along with water to Earth through collisions billions of years ago.

Bennu’s orbit, which intersects with our planet’s orbit, also made the round trip easier than the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

So far, researchers have focused their efforts not on the main sample, but on “extra particles,” described as black dust and debris lining the sample collection device.

Lots of study material

In October 2020, when the OSIRIS-REx probe fired nitrogen gas at Bennu to collect its sample, a lid meant to seal the sample got stuck with a piece of rock, allowing some fine material to flow out of the complex without escaping entirely.

“Best problem we could have There is a lot of material “It took longer to collect than we expected,” Christopher Snead, OSIRIS-REx vice president of conservation, said in a statement. The rest of the sample will be examined later.

asteroid belt

It is believed that Bennu was formed from fragments of a larger asteroid in the asteroid belt, after a massive collision that occurred between one and two billion years ago.

Data collected by the spacecraft revealed that the molecules that made up its exterior were so loosely compressed that if a person climbed onto the surface, they could sink into it, as if stepping on a pit of plastic balls.

In addition to scientific information, better knowledge of Bennu’s composition could be useful if humanity needs to banish him.

According to NASA, while there is no chance of it colliding with Earth until the mid-21st century, the odds increase to 1 in 1,750 between then and 2300.

Few (AFP, NASA)