NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample curation steps closer to final reveal

Because the astromaterials curation workforce at NASA’s Johnson House Middle continues to gather the bonus asteroid Bennu particles positioned outdoors the OSIRIS-REx TAGSAM (Contact-and-Go Pattern Acquisition Mechanism) head, they’ve additionally accomplished extra steps towards disassembly and reveal of the majority asteroid pattern inside the pinnacle.

Curation scientists eliminated 14 round witness plates from the highest of the TAGSAM head on Monday and Tuesday. These plates had been used to observe inside environmental circumstances of the spacecraft at numerous factors through the mission and had been rigorously contained and saved away for contamination information.

After eradicating all 14 plates and gathering any remaining free dust, the workforce eliminated the TAGSAM head from its avionics deck platform and had the primary alternative to view the 24 floor contact pads on the underside of the pinnacle and the asteroid pattern beneath the collector head.

When the pattern collector touched the asteroid in October 2020, these floor contact pads trapped fine-grained asteroid rocks and dust instantly from Bennu’s floor layer. The materials within the contact pads will present a singular set of samples that may inform scientists in regards to the circumstances on the very floor of Bennu.

The asteroid materials on and inside to the seize ring—the safe base into which the TAGSAM was seated when stowed—got here from the pattern assortment occasion. Throughout assortment, TAGSAM shot nitrogen gasoline at Bennu to push asteroid particles from as deep as 19 inches (50 cm) beneath the floor into the TAGSAM head, which sealed with a flap. If collected particles held that flap open, they’d fall out into the realm inside to the seize ring.

These two units of collected supplies will thus give scientists details about the floor materials and materials at better depths beneath the floor. Altogether, these fine-grained samples from the asteroid will assist scientists and researchers make new discoveries in regards to the geologic historical past of asteroid Bennu, its influence historical past, and implications for asteroid influence evaluation.

Pictures of the majority pattern and early evaluation outcomes will likely be revealed throughout a reside NASA occasion on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 11 a.m. EDT.