Scientists have obtained their preliminary glimpse of a pattern obtained from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, and so they’ve stumbled upon greater than they initially anticipated, which might present helpful details about the asteroid’s composition, studies CNN.
On opening the canister housing the pattern on September 26, researchers found a surplus of darkish, fine-grained materials adhering to the inside surfaces of the container’s lid and base, in keeping with a CNN report.
The touchdown of the pattern in Utah’s desert on September 24 marked the fruits of NASA‘s 7-year OSIRIS-Rex mission. This mission concerned a journey to Bennu, located roughly 200 million miles (320 million kilometers) from Earth, adopted by a touch-down on the asteroid and a return to Earth for the pattern drop. The complete distance traveled amounted to three.86 billion miles.
During its mission in October 2020, OSIRIS-REx briefly employed its TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism head) to disturb Bennu’s floor and accumulate a pattern. Remarkably, it gathered such an abundance of fabric that particles may very well be noticed slowly drifting away into house earlier than the top was secured inside the canister.
This discovery led scientists to think about the potential of conducting a speedy examination of any supplies discovered upon opening the canister.