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Probe touches asteroid Bennu
Last night, the NASA OSIRIS-REx probe tried to take a soil sample from the asteroid Bennu at a distance of more than 320 million kilometers from Earth. The maneuver went according to plan, but the next few days will show whether enough material from the fragment has been recorded. If necessary, the maneuver could be repeated again.
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The OSIRIS-REx probe hit the asteroid Bennu last night and attempted to collect material from the surface. image: NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona [Großansicht] |
Die mission Origins, spectral interpretation, resource identification, safety regolith explorer (OSIRIS-REx) began in 2016 and arrived at the asteroid Bennu in late 2018. Since then, the probe has closely examined the chunk at close range and searched for a suitable location to take a sample. To do this, the probe must approach the piece and touch it with a kind of “trunk” with which dust and small pebbles are collected from the surface of the asteroid. One expects at least 60 grams of material.
Last night got serious: OSIRIS-REx approached the surface of Bennu and a region with the 3.4 meter long sampling arm, the “Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism”, TAGSAM for short The team The missionary had dubbed it “Nightingale” and finally touched the primeval chunk. All telemetry data indicates that everything went according to plan by the investigators during the maneuver.
Upon contacting the surface, nitrogen gas was ejected from the boom head, which should spew dust that could then be collected. The team will have to find out in the next few days if there really is any material on board the probe. To do this, the photographs that were taken from the sampling point immediately after touching the ground will be evaluated today. Later photographs of TAGSAM will also be taken. Also, the probe must be rotated with the arm extended to determine if its moment of inertia has changed to compare with previously recorded data.
If it is more likely that the minimum required amount of material is not on board OSIRIS-REx, there is another possibility that a sample will be taken on January 21, 2021. However, if the team is confident that there is sufficient material to On board the probe, the barrier head should be put away in the sample return capsule on October 30, and the probe should be prepared to leave Bennu. This is scheduled for March next year. The earth should reach the sample on September 24, 2023.
Asteroids are considered to be remnants of the formation of the solar system. Their research can tell researchers a lot about how planets and other objects formed from the disk of gas and dust around the young sun.
Bennu is also of interest to astronomers for another reason: The 500-meter-wide chunk is one of the few objects known to date for which a collision with Earth in the next century cannot be completely ruled out. However, the probability of a collision with Earth is low: it is only 0.037 percent. However, detailed data on the nature of Bennu could help develop an effective defense plan in an emergency.
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