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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has discovered more about the asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft has been exploring the asteroid for two years and collected rock and dust samples for research. He traveled 200 million miles to reach Bennu from Earth and touched the surface of space rock on October 20, 2020.
During its mission, the probe’s test device sent nitrogen blasts, spinning rocks, and dust that was collected in the sample collection tool. However, the researchers were caught off guard when it was discovered that the move had produced so much tissue that rock and dust were opening up the specimen collection tool, allowing valuable alien materials to spill into space.
Fortunately, the researchers managed to stash the test by losing a few samples, but that wasn’t the end of the stuns. Recently, analysts at the College of Colorado concluded, based on the information Osiris-Rex gathered in the two long times he shot Bennu, that space rock is likely hollow.
Daniel Scheeres, professor in the university’s Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and who led the research, concluded that there are gaps in the center, within which several football fields could fit.
Asteroid Bennu rotates near its death
As Osiris-Rex is circling Bennu, the test measured how much the asteroid’s gravity attracted him. Following their movements, the mission directors make calculations on the quality of Bennu’s gravity. At the same time, Bennu was hurling pieces of rock the size of a marble from its surface.
Because gravity comes from mass, these two sets of information allowed Scheeres’ group to calculate how the material is conveyed through the interior of the space rock.
Their findings were distributed in the Science Progresses diary on October 8. Recently, the short landing of OSIRIS-REx appears to be far from their expected calculations in terms of transportation from the loft site.
The constraint of the Bennu turn seems to push its fabric outward towards the surface. Some of the thinnest parts of space rock are found in its protruding equator.
“You can imagine that maybe in a million years or less, the whole thing falls apart,” said Daniel Scheeres according to The Business Insider.
(Photo: (NASA Photo / JPL-Caltec via Getty Images)) In this NASA flyer, the giant asteroid Vesta is seen in an image taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft about 3,200 miles above the surface July 24, 2011 in space. The Dawn spacecraft entered orbit around the asteroid on July 15 and will collect images and information for next year. It will then travel to the asteroid Ceres, arriving in 2015. (Photo by NASA / JPL-Caltec via Getty Images)
Read also: NASA appeals against 5G satellite’s Mega Constellation plan amid the risk of “catastrophic collision”
The collection of OSIRIS-REx specimens
OSIRIS-REx expands its mechanical inspection arm – the Touch-and-Go (TAGSAM) sample acquisition mechanism – from its reduced capacity position to the test collection position. This configuration also places the nacelle’s center of gravity specifically above the TAGSAM manifold head, which is the portion of the shuttle that will come into contact with the Bennu surface during evidence collection. The spacecraft’s two sun-based boards then move in a “Y-wing” arrangement on the spacecraft’s body, which positions them firmly up and away from the asteroid’s surface during landing.
The spacecraft is equipped to collect at least 60 grams or 2 ounces. of Bennu’s surface materials to be returned to Earth. It is the largest collection of samples since the Apollo program, and the mission created two strategies to confirm that this test collection took place as reported by NASA.
(Photo: (Photo by Joel KowskyNASA via Getty Images))
In this photo provided by NASA, The United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket with Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) on board is seen after arriving at Space Launch Complex 41 on Wednesday, September .7, 2016 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The OSIRIS-REx launch is scheduled for September 8 and will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, recover at least two ounces of surface material, and return it to Earth for study. Asteroid Bennu could hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth. Photo copyright:
It is also equipped with the Natural Feature Tracking (NFT) navigation system. The spacecraft began its collection of navigation images approximately 90 minutes after it departed from orbit. It then compares these images in real time to an onboard image catalog, using recognized surface highlights to make sure it is on the correct course to the location.
Related article: NASA flaunts close-up images of asteroid Bennu, but bewildered by dark ‘depression’
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