NASA takes 1st asteroid rock sample
Print Edition
A NASA spacecraft touched down on the rugged surface of the Bennu asteroid on Tuesday, grabbing a sample of rocks dating back to the birth of our solar system to bring home.
The minivan-sized OSIRIS-REx spacecraft’s 3.35-meter robotic arm plucked the sample near the north pole, NASA’s first handful of pristine asteroid rocks.
“Sample collection is complete, and the back-away burn has executed,” said Mission operator Estelle Church.
The probe was set to send back images of the sample collection yesterday and throughout the week so scientists can examine how much material was retrieved and whether the probe will need to make another collection.
If a successful collection is confirmed, the spacecraft will journey back toward Earth, arriving in 2023.
Bennu, over 160 million kilometers away and formed in the early days of our solar system, could hold clues to the origins of life on Earth. Asteroids are debris from the solar system’s formation.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
