After nearly two years hovering around an ancient asteroid hundreds of millions of kilometers away, today we will witness a historic moment . NASA’s OSIRIS-REx ( Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer ) robotic spacecraft will descend on the surface of the asteroid Bennu this Tuesday, October 20, land for a few seconds in a more than risky maneuver and collect a sample of small fragments and dust from the asteroid, which will be studied later on Earth.
Bennu , 300 million kilometers away from Earth, and the size of the Empire State Building in New York (USA) represents the first asteroid sample return mission of the United States, whose objective is to collect and transporting a pristine and unaltered sample of this asteroid for scientific study. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will deploy a 10-foot-long robotic arm and spend about 10 seconds collecting samples weighing at least 50 grams from the asteroid’s loose debris.
We will have the opportunity to see this maneuver live “touch and go ” (touch and go “) on the website of the US space agency from 23:00 peninsular time.
What does Bennu mean?
Bennu was baptized as such in 2013 by a nine-year-old boy, Michael Puzio, from North Carolina who won the contest to officially name this asteroid. It was a collaboration between the mission, the Planetary Society, and the LINEAR asteroid study that enabled the discovery of the asteroid. Bennu is the ancient Egyptian deity linked to the Sun, creation and rebirth ; living symbol of Osiris.
Bennu is an incredibly dark asteroid
It is classified as a type B asteroid, so it has a large amount of carbon and other minerals. Because of this amount of carbon, its surface reflects around 4% of the light that hits it , hence it has a characteristic black hue.
It is also very old
It is so old that scientists estimate that it formed in the first 10 million years of our solar system’s history, more than 4.5 billion years ago. His most likely birthplace is the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
A treasure for science
Due to its age, it is a primordial artifact preserved in the vacuum of space, so it could be made of material with molecules that were present when life first formed on Earth. It could explain the origins of all life on Earth, since all of them are based on chains of carbon atoms linked with oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and other elements. What role did organic matter-rich asteroids play in catalyzing life on Earth? It is one of the questions that is expected to be answered.
Could crash into the earth
There is a slim chance, scientists estimate 1 in 2,700 , that the asteroid Bennu will hit Earth between the years 2175 and 2199 (though predictions will be refined with future observations).
What will the landing zone be?
Nightingale is the mission’s objective landing point (at the north pole of Bennu) that has some parking space and is surrounded by rocks the size of a building.
How much material are you expected to collect?
The samples should be at least 50-60 grams and it is expected that you can collect two kilograms of rocks . It will be the largest amount of extraterrestrial material brought from space since the mythical Apollo missions.
Mission dates
The spacecraft will depart Bennu in 2021 and deliver the samples to Earth on September 24, 2023.
