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Twelve minutes after midnight, Swedish time, the US space agency NASA announced that the Osiris-Rex space probe had landed on the asteroid Bennu, 330 million kilometers from Earth. A unique mission that takes twelve years and where the probe started his space travel four years ago.
The enormous distance means that it takes time for the signals to move between Earth and Bennu, which means that when the spacecraft report reached Earth after 18.5 minutes, it was all over for a long time.
Collected Space Gravel
For 16 critical seconds, the Osiris-Rex, as big as a pickup truck, did its job: it landed a half-kilometer-diameter crater in Bennu, deployed a robotic arm, fired a pressurized nitrogen charge that inflated the accumulated gravel and dust, and then got up again.
– We look for our own origins out there, and that is why we have gone so far as to get a part of Bennu, says NASA researcher Michelle Thaller to the AFP news agency.
It is expected to return to Earth in 2023
If Osiris-Rex returns to Earth as planned, in September 2023, it will carry with it the largest collection of space gravel since the lunar missions during the Apollo era. The hope is that it has collected at least 57 grams, but the spacecraft is capable of carrying about two kilos home.
– In fact, we think we can come back with a baby picture of what the solar system was like and its chemical composition billions of years ago, says Michelle Thaller.
