NASA scientist have released a carload of data from OSIRIS - king , the space vehicle orbiting the asteroid Bennu . There are peck of interesting results — and some possible unforeseen challenges when it comes to collecting a sampling .
The results publish today in various Nature daybook admit a whole lot of surprising and exciting findings . Bennu seems to be overabundant with water - containing , or “ hydrous , ” minerals . It ’s an fighting asteroid , spewing debris into space 11 times during the course of observations so far . It ’s also hilly than antecedently think , which will make collecting a sample distribution difficult . NASA scientist are up to the challenge , though .
“ We sense confident that our system and teams are up to the task of [ touch - and - go - sampling ] a collection situation that was smaller than antecedently , ” Rich Burns , OSIRIS - REx project coach , said during a NASA media group discussion .
NASA launch OSIRIS - REx , the Origins , Spectral Interpretation , Resource Identification , and Security – Regolith Explorer , in 2016 to characterize and pull in a sample from Bennu , an asteroid that may be hazardous to Earth one daylight in the future . It make it in orbit in December 2018 , and is schedule to return with a sampling in September 2023 .
Like Ryugu , another asteroid humans are currently prove to sample , Bennu looks like a spinningpile of rubble , compressed into a top - same shape . tomography of its absorbed radiation unveil that Bennu looks most like carbon - ground meteorite called carbonaceous chondrites . But unlike the like asteroid Ryugu , Bennu appear to be full ofwater - containing minerals . The new datum also indicates that Bennu ’s rotation is slowly speeding up , thanks tosolar energystriking only one side of the asteroid , and that its interior contains a commixture ofdense spots and voidswhich , combined with its twist , might impact its surface topography .
Dante Lauretta , OSIRIS - REx primary investigator from the University of Arizona , Tucson , and Coralie Adam , OSIRIS - king flight navigator from KinetX , Inc. Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics , also explained that it ’s an active asteroid , entail it regularly ejects material into outer space .
Perhaps most significantly , Bennu ’s airfoil features rocks of avariety of sizes — everything from bombastic boulders to tiny grains . This , combined with measurements of its impact craters , implies that Bennu is between 100 million and 1 billion years older , honest-to-god than previously thought . It ’s even possible that its aerofoil bears traces of the clock time Bennuspent in the asteroid beltbefore arriving in its present - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. orbit , which intersect the orbits of both Earth and Mars .
Those heterogeneously sized rocks could prove baffling to the mission , however . OSIRIS - REx has an instrument visit the Touch - and - Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism ( TAGSAM ) , which is an sleeve that offer toward Bennu . The probe will shoot down atomic number 7 gas pedal at the asteroid to kick back up stone and then pull together it in a container seize to the arm . The system wo n’t be capable to kick up and capture a large boulder , though .
“ We were looking for a 25 - meter - radius peril - loose zone , ” Burns explained , where luck admit magnanimous rocks and usurious slopes . But based on the newest observations , “ there ’s improbable to be any risk - barren zone . ”
That intend that rather of being alright with any patch within the 25 - meter r , the flight navigators will involve to assay and hit the kernel of it . It ’s as if rather than just hoping a dart hits the dartboard , they must attempt to hit the bullseye , enounce Burns .
The wealth of scientific data Bennu is propose makes OSIRIS - male monarch researchers eager to near the asteroid and snag a sample . Neyda Abreu , comrade prof of geoscience and mathematics from Penn State DuBois who was not involved in the new study , told Gizmodo that she was sex by the possible uncovering of magnetite , a careen that can be indicative of the front of water . And she was “ at the boundary of her seat ” thinking about whether the sampling would contain organic mote , and if so , what kind .
“ We still recognize very little about asteroid , and every missionary work bring a Brobdingnagian amount of information that will have orotund scientific economic value , ” she said . “ But I reckon at this distributor point … the big component of this commission is to make certain there ’s good sampling collection . ”
OSIRIS - REx scientists are tough at work ensuring that they fully understand all the risks face up them as they prepare to touch down on Bennu . If all go according to program , we can expect the sample collection to take place during the summer of 2020 , said Lauretta .
asteroidsAstronomyAstrophysicsNASAOSIRIS - RExScienceSpace
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and finish news in your inbox day by day .
news show from the hereafter , delivered to your present tense .
You May Also Like
