Since this week’s camp, a NASA spacecraft has been filled with debris so small that it is open and precious particles are being sent into space, scientists said on Friday.
The news was announced by scientists three days after the Osiris-Rex spacecraft hit the asteroid Bennu 200 miles away.
The mission’s leading scientist, Dante Loretta, said Tuesday’s operation collected far more material than expected to return to Earth – in hundreds of grams. The robot penetrated the sample container at the end of the hand into the asteroid and so deeply with such force, however, it sucked the rocks and settled on the edge of the lid.
Early Tuesday the team roamed to place the sample container in the return capsule – sooner than the original trip home – for the home trip. The particles continue to escape, and scientists want to minimize the damage.
“Time is of the essence,” said Thomas Zarbuchen, head of NASA’s science mission.
Clouds of planetary particles were seen revolving around the spacecraft as it moved away from Bennu – at least half of an ounce (5 to 10 grams) at any given time. According to Loretta, the situation seemed stable, once the robot stopped moving and was locked in place.
The Orissa-Rex requirement – the return mission of NASA’s first asteroid specimen, totaling more than 800m – was at least 2 ounce (60g) specimens for compensation. The carbon-rich material contains the preserved building blocks of our solar system and can help scientists better understand how the planets formed and how life began on Earth.
Launched in 2016, the spacecraft reached Bennu in 2018. Regardless of what is on board, it will still leave around the planet in March. Samples will not return to Earth until 2023.
Japan is looking forward to its second batch taken from another asteroid, coming back in December.
