By Robert Lee Hotz Close Robert Lee Hotz Updated Oct. 20, 2020 7:30 pm ET Far from Earth, a U.S. spacecraft gently brushed the face of an asteroid named Bennu on Tuesday in an attempt to pick up and return primordial grit, the first such U.S. mission to try to bring back clues on the origins of the planets from an asteroid’s surface.
Originally thought to have a smoother surface, Bennu asteroid is littered with boulders making spacecraft landing treacherous. A landing spot named Nightingale was chosen for its relative landing ease and the amount and value of available material to be collected.Length: 20.25 feet with solar arrays deployedSits inside a small crate site : Diameter: 66'. The area covers a couple parking spaces wide.
If the mission goes well, NASA hopes to land the asteroid sample at the Utah Test and Training Range in September 2023. Measuring about a third of a mile across, Bennu is a pile of loosely compacted rubble barely held together by gravity, according to planetary scientists at the University of Arizona. It appears to be so full of holes that it could easily fly apart one day from the force of its own rotation, the scientists said.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NASA spacecraft lands on asteroid Bennu, grabs sampleThe minivan-sized OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will send back images of the sample collected from the Bennu asteroid and, if a successful collection is confirmed, the spacecraft will journey back toward Earth, arriving in 2023.
Source: trtworld - 🏆 101. / 63 Read more »
NASA makes history with sample of asteroid soilAfter spending nearly two years circling the asteroid Bennu, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft used its robotic arm to gather pieces of the space rock.
Source: NBCNews - 🏆 10. / 86 Read more »
NASA to skim the surface of an asteroid and bring a sample homeNASA is set to touch an asteroid, break off a sample, and bring it back to Earth for the first time during a history-making mission that culminates on Tuesday. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft -- an acronym for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer -- is set
Source: YahooNews - 🏆 380. / 59 Read more »
NASA spacecraft grabs sample of rocks from asteroidA 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. PattyArquette NASA Awesome! NASA Cool. NASA Just don't bring the whole rock with you.
Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »
NASA to skim the surface of an asteroid and bring a sample homeDoes it concern anyone that these samples may have something in/on it that may be way worse than the COVID. How do you handle these rocks once they’re not in space?
Source: ABC - 🏆 471. / 51 Read more »
NASA mission to collect a sample on asteroid Bennu is ready for touchdownAfter orbiting the near-Earth asteroid Bennu for nearly two years, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is ready to reach out its robotic arm and collect a sample from the asteroid's surface on Tuesday. That sample will be returned to Earth in 2023.
Source: CNN - 🏆 4. / 95 Read more »