A NASA spacecraft captured soil samples from an asteroid that could be close to colliding with Earth in the next 200 years and parachuted the capsule into a Utah desert Sunday morning.
The flyby marked a successful mission for NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft, which returned the samples from the asteroid Bennu while flying about 63,000 miles from Earth’s surface.
The tire-sized space capsule was launched through Earth’s atmosphere at 27,000 mph from deep space, carrying about 9 ounces of rocks, dust and soil.
About four hours after releasing the capsule, which collected the largest soil sample ever collected from the surface of an asteroid, the capsule landed inside a designated landing zone west of Salt Lake City at the vast test and training range. of Utah of the US Army.
The Osiris-Rex spacecraft landed in the Utah desert on Sunday morning, capping a seven-year mission. NASA/AFP via Getty Images
The capsule flew through Earth’s atmosphere at 10:42 a.m. EST.
After completing its seven-year mission, NASA’s Osirius-Rex spacecraft, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security Regolith Explorer, set off for another asteroid.
“We have landing!” They announced Mission Recovery Operations, immediately repeating the news since the landing occurred three minutes earlier.
Osiris-Rex began its first journey to Bennu in 2016. Since then, it has taken off towards another asteroid. AP
“It’s like ‘Wow!’” said NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who was in Utah training for her own space capsule mission. “This is just amazing. It may come from the movies, but this is reality.”
Scientists believe the capsule contains at least a cup of Bennu debris, but they won’t know for sure until the container is opened. During a mission three years ago, some debris spilled and floated after the spacecraft overfilled the capsule and caused the container lid to get stuck.
Osiris-Rex undertook its first journey to Bennu in 2016 and reached the asteroid two years later. When it returned in 2020, the spacecraft had traveled 4 billion miles.
The spacecraft recovered debris from Bennu, a dangerous asteroid about 50 million kilometers from Earth. NASA/AFP via Getty Images
Bennu, which orbits the Sun about 80 million kilometers from Earth, is about the size of the Empire State Building but shaped like a top.
Scientists say what they learn from the asteroid debris may be important in the coming years, as Bennu is expected to come dangerously close to Earth in 2182, possibly close enough to impact.
While Bennu is the most dangerous asteroid known in the solar system, and large enough to cause significant destruction on Earth, the odds of Bennu crashing into Earth are only 1 in 2,700, Space.com reported.
Scientists say what they learn from the asteroid debris may be important in the future, as Bennu is expected to come dangerously close to Earth in 2182, possibly close enough to impact. AFP via Getty Images
“I think people in the future will be well equipped to deal with Bennu, especially because of the enormous amount of information we have collected. [at Bennu]“Dante Lauretta, principal investigator of OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona, previously told Space.com.
“I like to think of it as one of our gifts to future generations.”
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the samples that returned to Earth on Sunday will provide “an extraordinary glimpse into the beginnings of our solar system.”
NASA plans to show what Bennu brought in October. AFP via Getty Images
The samples will be moved Monday morning to a new laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, which houses hundreds of pounds of moon rocks collected by Apollo astronauts.
NASA plans to share what it brought back from Bennu in October.
Osiris-Rex has since moved to the asteroid Apophis, which it will arrive in 2029.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn