After seven years of work, NASA scientists have brought a sample from asteroid Bennu back to Earth. This sample could serve as a time capsule from the early days of our solar system. The rocks and dust brought back not only contain water but are nearly 5% carbon by weight. Suggesting that Bennu may have delivered the building blocks of life to Earth!
“The first analysis shows samples that contain abundant water in the form of hydrated clay minerals, and they contain carbon as both minerals and organic molecules,” NASA Administrator, Bill Nelson said. “Far exceeding our goal of 60 grams, this is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever return to Earth. The carbon and water molecules are exactly the kinds of material that we wanted to find. They’re crucial elements in the formation of our own planet. And they’re going to help us determine the origin of elements that could have led to life.”
This sample was collected from the 4.5 billion-year-old near-Earth asteroid in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. The rocks and dust were gathered by the spacecraft closely approaching Bennu and extending a Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism head, or TAGSAM. Then it fired a blast of nitrogen gas that lifted rocks and dust from 19 inches (50 centimeters) beneath the space rock’s surface. The TAGSAM head then gathered the subsequent debris.
What OSIRIS-REx collected didn’t arrive on Earth on September 24th. Being dropped in a capsule by the spacecraft and landing in the Utah desert.
As you can imagine scientists couldn’t wait to dig in and have been studying the samples from Bennu ever since. The results were finally shared during a live NASA broadcast from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Wednesday. It is also the largest asteroid sample ever returned to Earth.
Together, these dust, rocks, and fine particles could reveal the history of how the asteroid formed and evolved. Understanding the astroid’s composition could help NASA determine how it might deflect the asteroid, which has a chance of impacting Earth. In hopes that we never have to leave Bruce Willis behind ever again.
Scientists will continue to analyze the sample for the next two years in a dedicated clean room inside the Johnson Space Center. They will also be sending out parts of it around the globe, including OSIRIS-REx mission partners at the Canadian Space Agency and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.
They will be keeping 70% of the material collected pristine in storage though. Allowing future generations, with better technology, to also study it.
