CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA finally has counted up all the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft last fall — and it’s double the rubble return goal.
Officials reported Thursday that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 121.6 grams (4.29 ounces) of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. That’s just over half a cup and the biggest cosmic haul ever from beyond the moon.
It took NASA longer than expected to pry open the sample container because of stuck fasteners.
The black, carbon-rich samples — the first ever collected from an asteroid by NASA — are stored at a special curation lab at Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
Osiris-Rex returned the samples last September, three years after gathering them from the asteroid. The haul for the $1 billion mission would have been greater, but rocks jammed the lid of the container following the grab and some samples floated away.
Related articles:
Related suggestion:
Mia Regan sweetly embraces Victoria Beckham as they reunite at her Mango launch event in SpainAbortion fight rages on with moves to repeal Arizona ban and a Supreme Court casePakistan women's great Bismah Maroof retires from international cricketChina launches 3Fire burns a restaurant and hotel in eastern India, killing 6 and injuring 20Firefighters fully contain southern New Jersey forest fire that burned hundreds of acresAlice Evans admits she 'didn't react well' when her 'life was uprooted' by acrimonious split from exScottish National Party ends 3Technical glitch temporarily closed southern Norway airspace, causing delays at Oslo airportF2 champion Theo Pourchaire gets another IndyCar race with McLaren as Malukas continues to heal
0.193s , 4924.2421875 kb
Copyright © 2024 Powered by NASA's final tally shows spacecraft returned double the amount of asteroid rubble ,Stellar Standpoint news portal