The first analyzes of a sample from the asteroid Bennu, which NASA brought to Earth last month, show high carbon and water content. “They may indicate that the essential components of life on Earth can be found in rocks.” NASA said Wednesday after a team of scientists and OSIRIS-REx mission managers demonstrated the material for the first time at an event at its Johnson Space Center in Houston.
This is historical: This is the largest asteroid sample delivered to our planet. OSIRI-Rex took off in 2016 and traveled 3 billion kilometers to reach Bennu, an asteroid discovered in 1999. It took him two years to arrive, spent three years orbiting the asteroid, and then flew another two years to return to Earth.
The OSIRIS-REx sample “will help scientists explore the origins of life on our planet for generations to come,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “Almost everything we do at NASA is aimed at answering questions about who we are and where we come from.”
OSIRIS-REx’s sample collection goal was 60 grams of asteroid material. NASA did not specify the exact amount of what was collected, but it is estimated that there were about 250 grams of contents inside the capsule. “There was so much extra material that it slowed down the careful process of collecting and storing the sample.”“, the agency said in a statement.
“The abundance of carbon-rich material and the abundant presence of clay minerals in the aquifer are just the tip of the cosmic iceberg,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator. “We are opening a time capsule that gives us deep insight into the origins of our solar system.”
Analysis of OSIRIS-REx samples is just beginning
NASA Johnson conservation experts working in the mission’s new labs spent 10 days dismantling the equipment on the capsule containing the sample. When the canister lid was first opened, scientists found “dark dust and sand-sized particles” covering the outside of the collector head, canister lid and base.
Asteroid Bennu is estimated to contain remains of the formation of the Solar System. They date back to 4.5 billion years ago.. Therefore, the sample could help understand how the Earth was created and how life arose on it.
In these first weeks, the scientists conducted a “quick” assessment of the sample. They recorded images using a scanning electron microscope, took infrared measurements and analyzed chemical elements. They also performed X-ray computed tomography to create a three-dimensional computer model of one of the particles, revealing its varied internal structure. This served as evidence of the large amount of carbon and water in the sample.
Additional analyzes are still needed to understand the nature of the detected carbon compounds. NASA, however, stresses that this initial discovery bodes well. The agency also said that part of the sample will be reserved for research decades from now, when more powerful technologies than those available now become available.
Source: Hiper Textual
