Two years later, a spaceship reaches an asteroid that can collide with Earth's World DW variety

The Osiris-Rex spacecraft, launched by NASA in 2016, has approached an asteroid the size of a skyscraper believed to contain life-long organic compounds, but could touch the ground in around 150 years.

The vehicle was launched in September 2016 as part of an unprecedented seven-year NASA mission, which consisted of conducting a thorough study of the Pino asteroid, to take a sample its surface and return the material to Earth for study.

Pino is a rock mass that looks like a giant oak and is as far away from the sun as it is supposed to be rich in fine organic particles, where carbon is a key element, dating back to the beginnings of the solar system. The minerals in this asteroid can contain water, another important element of the evolution of life.

Scientists believe that asteroids and comets hit the Earth very early and provided them with the organic compounds and water needed for life on the planet. An atomic analysis of samples of the asteroid Pino could prove this theory. There is however another reason more relevant to the fate of the Earth to study Pino.

Scientists believe that the asteroid could have been crushed catastrophically on Earth over the past 166 years. Pino ranks second in the NASA record with 72 near Earth particles that could reach it.

Osiris-Rex will help scientists understand how the Sun's heat is turning into an increasingly threatening path in the solar system. This solar energy is thought to propel the asteroid closer to Earth's orbit whenever it is at the point closest to the planet, which occurs every six years.

"By the time we collect the sample in 2020, we will have a better idea of ​​the possibility that Pino will hit the ground in the next 150 years," mission spokeswoman Irene Morton said.

The vehicle reached the mission's "pre-investigation" phase on Monday, December 3, reaching a distance of 12 miles from the asteroid. The vehicle will be only 2 km from the planet at the end of December, where it will enter its area of ​​attraction. At this point, the vehicle will begin to reduce its orbit around the asteroid, where it will fly only six feet from its surface. He will then extend his automatic arm to take a soil sample of asteroids in July 2020.

The vehicle will then return to Earth, where a capsule containing the asteroid samples will be separated from an awning in the Utah desert in September 2023.

Reuters / Reuters (Reuters)