NASA probe to drop capsule of asteroid samples to Earth

Published September 24,2023

Subscribe

NASA house probe OSIRIS-REx is because of drop a capsule containing a pattern from an asteroid over the desert of the US state of Utah on Sunday, in a primary for the US house company.

NASA estimates that the capsule accommodates about 250 grams of particles collected from the asteroid Bennu about three years in the past. The probe is predicted to launch the capsule about 102,000 kilometres above the Earth’s floor.

The capsule, protected by a warmth protect, is predicted to enter the Earth’s ambiance at round 1442 GMT and, with the assistance of parachutes to gradual its descent, contact down an estimated 13 minutes later.

NASA is concentrating on a touchdown zone that measures 58 by 14 kilometres.

Once the capsule lands, will probably be taken to NASA laboratories in Texas for examination. A group of round 200 scientists hope to analyse the pattern utilizing 60 totally different scientific approaches.

If all the pieces goes effectively, it might be the primary pattern of an asteroid to be efficiently introduced again to Earth in NASA’s historical past – and possibly the most important such pattern ever taken.

In 2005, the Japanese house probe Hayabusa managed to land on an asteroid. In 2010, it introduced again to Earth the primary soil samples ever collected from such an asteroid. Although different probes have flown to asteroids, Hayabusa stays the one probe to deliver materials again to Earth to date.

OSIRIS-REx (the identify is an acronym for “Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer”) was launched from NASA’s Cape Canaveral Spaceport in September 2016 and arrived at Bennu about two years later.

In October 2020, the probe took a pattern from the asteroid throughout an advanced manoeuvre which lasted a number of hours.