NASA publishes the first photos of samples taken from the asteroid Bennu

Four months ago, the OSIRIS-REx capsule, which contained samples from Bennu, crash-landed in the Utah desert.

Photo: EFE – NASA DRAWING/Keegan Barber

Four months ago, in the Utah desert, in the United States, the OSIRIS-REx capsule fell, containing inside a container with samples captured by Bennu, an asteroid cataloged by NASA as “potentially dangerous”. (Read: Japan’s SLIM probe reached the Moon, but solar panels stopped generating power)

However, due to problems with two fasteners, the capsule could not be opened. Now, NASA in a note assured that the team has already managed to complete the final steps to open the head of the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM).

Those responsible for capturing the image of the first Bennu samples were Creative Lead Erika Blumenfeld and Project Leader Joe Aebersold, both members of Astromaterials’ Advanced Imaging and Visualization team.

The photos, the agency added, were “taken from above, providing a highly detailed top-down view of the specimen, using high-resolution precision manual photography and a semi-automated focus stacking procedure.” (You can read: Peregrine, a failed NASA mission, disappeared in a remote region of the Pacific)

Now, the team’s next task will be to remove the metal collar surrounding the container and then prepare a box that will be used to transfer the sample from the TAGSAM head to the sample trays. These trays will finally be photographed and weighed, before being packaged and stored at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

According to NASA, Bennu is a potentially dangerous asteroid that has a one in 2,700 chance of hitting Earth in 2182. However, what draws attention to this asteroid is what’s inside, which are possible extraterrestrial precursors of life on Earth. (You may be interested: Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket successfully lifted off with four people on board)

A few months ago, when the capsule arrived on Earth, Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, assured that “it is the largest sample of carbon-rich asteroid ever brought back to Earth”.

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2024-01-20 17:05:00
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