NASA's Osiris-Rex probe: Sample from asteroid Bennu weighs more than 121 grams
For months, NASA was unable to open the sample container from the Osiris-Rex asteroid probe. It was found to contain over 51 grams.
The remaining sample material
(Image: Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebers/NASA)
NASA's Osiris-Rex probe has brought a total of 121.6 grams of material from the asteroid Bennu to Earth, more than twice as much as planned. This has now been announced by the US space agency. The main container, which had not been accessible for months, contained a further 51.6 grams of samples. Before its difficult opening, 70.3 grams had already been recovered. In total, at least 70 percent of the asteroid sample will remain at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center for further research, with the remainder going to research institutions and museums around the world. A catalog of all the material will be published in the spring.
Osiris-Rex collected the sample from the asteroid Bennu and dropped it over the Earth at the end of September. Substantial quantities of material were recovered outside the actual sample container, and the rest was secured with more than 35 seals. This was also intended to protect it from contamination by the Earth's atmosphere. In mid-October, it was discovered that two of the seals could not be opened. Because the sample container can only be worked on in a special, hermetically sealed container and with specially approved tools, special screwdrivers had to be developed. It was not until mid-January that it was finally possible to open the container.
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The 121 grams now available for research are also more than 20 times as much as the two Japanese probes Hayabusa and Hayabusa 2 brought to Earth. Initial analyses have already found a lot of carbon and water in the material from Bennu, i.e. the basic building blocks of life on Earth. The samples are immensely valuable for research because they are likely to be more than four billion years old and provide a glimpse into the origins of the solar system and our Earth. Once the material has been cataloged, researchers all over the world will be able to request parts of it; several samples have already been sent. One can even be admired in the museum.
(mho)
