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- NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is going even better than scientists thought, and the asteroid probe collected so much material that its manipulators sped up the timeline to make sure it was bringing as much back to Earth as possible.
- The sampling arm was literally “overflowed” with material from the asteroid, NASA says.
- Eventually, the spacecraft will return to Earth, where it will leave the sample so that scientists can study it firsthand.
It has been a very important month for NASA’s asteroid hunting ambitions. The space agency’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully performed its delicate “Touch and Go” or TAG maneuver by touching the space rock known as Bennu for a few seconds before returning to a safe orbit. During those brief moments, the spacecraft lifted a pile of material from the surface of an asteroid and attempted to capture it.
Days later, it finally became clear that the capture arm did indeed grab enough material to save it for the trip home. However, saving the material is not just a matter of putting it in the pocket of the spaceship. The storage process takes time, but the good news is that the storage procedure was completed successfully.
The ultimate goal of the spacecraft is to bring material from the asteroid’s surface to Earth so that scientists can study it first-hand. The journey back to Earth hasn’t started yet, but the hardest parts seem to be in the rearview mirror. Probe survived his close encounter with the space rock, took a sample, and is now safely in storage.
In fact, the sampling maneuver worked so well that the team sped up the time to store the sample:
The stowage process, originally scheduled to begin in early November, sped up after sample collection when the mission team received images showing the spacecraft’s collection head overflowing with material. The images indicated that the spacecraft collected more than 2 ounces (60 grams) of material from Bennu’s surface, and that some of these particles appeared to be slowly escaping from the head. A mylar flap designed to hold the sample inside the head appeared to be open by some larger rocks. Now that the head is secure within the SRC, sample pieces will no longer be lost.
“This achievement by OSIRIS-REx on behalf of NASA and the world has raised our vision towards the most important things we can accomplish together, as teams and nations,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. “Together, a team comprising industry, academia and international partners, and a talented and diverse team of NASA employees with all kinds of experience, have set us on the path to vastly increase our collection on Earth of space samples. . Shows like this are going to transform what we know about our universe and ourselves, which is the foundation of all NASA efforts. “
The return of the spacecraft to Earth will take many months, but you can bet that scientists will be very excited when it finally arrives.
Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering the latest news and trends in virtual reality, wearable devices, smartphones, and future technology. Most recently, Mike served as a technology editor at The Daily Dot and has been featured in USA Today, Time.com, and many other print and web media. His love of reporting is second only to his addiction to games.
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