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Launched in August 2016, the Osiris-Rex spacecraft of the US Space Agency (NASA) successfully hit the asteroid Bennu on Monday after traveling over 130 million kilometers of Earth. The goal of the mission is to collect soil samples and discover the traces of solar system formation, formed 4.5 billion years ago.
With an estimated diameter of only 500 meters, Bennu has a carbon-rich surface and will become the smallest asteroid ever explored by a space probe. Osiris-Rex, which is the size of an SUV, is expected to reach the orbit of the asteroid only on December 31, but will not land on the surface.
The NASA probe must use a mechanical arm to collect at least 60 grams of surface dust and gravel in 2020. The work will last one year. Then the pieces will separate and the samples will be sent in a capsule to the Earth. According to the space agency's technicians, the arrival forecasts are set for 2023.
"Bennu is covered with carbon and organic matter, basic elements of life," said Amy Simon, badistant mission scientist , Monday afternoon. . Because of the distance, the message sent by the probe took about seven minutes to reach the NASA team. The arrival of the Space Shuttle prompted applause.
"Relieved, proud, and eager to start exploring!", Twitter-published scientist Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona. "After two years of traveling and more than a decade of planning and work, I am here.On arrival is only the beginning", was posted the message in the official profile of the mission, @OSIRISREx, which costs around 800 USD. (R $ 3 billion, according to the current quote).
Indeed we have. Thanks to my world clbad team for all your hard work to get to this point. The arrival is only the beginning. NASA experts believe that Bennu was formed as a result of a cosmic collision #WelcomeToBennu https://t.co/4fb6KxgCx0 – NASA experts believe they are dead against a protoplanet (cosmic material that can become a planet), about a billion years ago. The asteroid, considered close to Earth, was discovered in 1999.
A week ago, the space module InSight, also from the US Space Agency, successfully landed on Mars. The first photos of the surface of the red planet have already been sent.
However, NASA is not the only one exploring asteroids. In September, a robot launched by a Japanese space probe reached the orbit of the Ryugu asteroid, twice as large as Bennu. Samples collected during the mission are expected to arrive on Earth next year. (F, b, e, v, n, t, s) {if (f.fbq) returns; n = f.fbq = function () {n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply (n, arguments): n.queue.push (arguments)}; if (! f._fbq) f._fbq = n; n.queue = n.loaded = 0; n.version = 2.0 & # 39 ;; n.queue = []; t = b.createElement (e); t.async =! 0; t.src = v; s = b.getElementsByTagName (e) [0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore (t, s)} (window, document, script, // connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents. fbq (& # 39; init & # 39; ;, & # 39; 1659995760901982 & # 39;); fbq (& quot; Track & # 39; PageView & # 39;); [ad_2]
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