NASA lastly has counted up all of the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft final fall—and it is double the rubble return aim.
Officers reported Thursday that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 121.6 grams (4.29 ounces) of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. That is simply over half a cup and the largest cosmic haul ever from past the moon.
It took NASA longer than anticipated to pry open the pattern container due to caught fasteners.
The black, carbon-rich samples—the primary ever collected from an asteroid by NASA—are saved at a particular curation lab at Houston’s Johnson House Heart.
Osiris-Rex returned the samples final September, three years after gathering them from the asteroid. The haul for the $1 billion mission would have been larger, however rocks jammed the lid of the container following the seize and a few samples floated away.
The spacecraft is now on its method to one other space rock, however that may contain solely a flyby with no cease for samples.
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NASA’s last tally reveals spacecraft returned double the quantity of asteroid rubble (2024, February 16)
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