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OSIRIS-REx has collected data showing that there are ingredients for water formation in the asteroid Benn. The study revealed traces of molecules of hydrogen and oxygen. NASA writes about it.
Mission scientists assume that once water was present at a larger astronomical site, the asteroid Bennus then detached. This asteroid is quite small – Benn was only 500 m wide, so there was no water in liquid form.
The OSIRIS-REx probe was sent to space in September 2016. It is equipped with numerous analytical instruments. On December 3, he approached Bennu at a distance of 19 km. Later, it is planned to take a soil sample. The general task of the project is to gather more data on the structure and composition of asteroids. The return to the Earth of the capsule-probe will take place in 2023.
The asteroid of Bennus revolves around the Sun in an elliptical orbit. It belongs to the Apollonians – a group of asteroids, whose orbits intersect with the orbit of the Earth. The probability of collision with this one is between 1 and 4,000.
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