The host of the program on the NASA website expressed his euphoria: “This is a great day for human history.”
Seven years after the US space agency launched it into space, the Osiris-REx spacecraft on Sunday facilitated the return to Earth of a chest carrying pristine samples collected from the asteroid Bennu. This scientific adventure should allow researchers to study the matter of which it is made and the physical properties of this object on the other side of the solar system.
There is the hope that this investigation can allow us to know the mechanism of the formation of planets and even the origin of life. “It means opening a time capsule in our ancient solar system,” said the web narrator. “Another chapter in space history begins”, he stressed.
It is the first time that this milestone has been achieved. The crucial operation, after landing in the Utah desert, was to ensure that terrestrial materials did not contaminate the sample.
Once the parachute deployed for the object to land, applause broke out at NASA. It was just the beginning. One essential thing was still missing, but this was already a good sign to be able to open this box of secrets.
Applause was widespread when the return trip ended, three minutes ahead of schedule, before 11 a.m. on the East Coast.
Then began the recovery operation of that container that allegedly carries a quarter of a kilo of rocks and dust from Bennu. This asteroid is 322 million kilometers from Earth. It has a length of 130 meters. It is estimated that it was formed during the first ten million years of the existence of the solar system.
From the web it was offered how the black chest fell, how it was deposited on the desert, not far from where the red and white parachute had been.
Shortly after, there was the irruption of a helicopter that recovered the capsule. The teams took extreme precautions in their approach. Two people approached wearing gas masks. They did a review of the environment and the chest, which still maintained a very high temperature. After certifying that it did not emit dangerous chemical substances, the masks were removed and the object was covered. Then the rest of the team appeared, until a helicopter took them away. Inside the chest is expected to find answers about the planetary system.
During the journey orbiting the Earth, the astronaut released the capsule from a distance of 100,000 kilometers. The device landed, after four hours of solo flight, in a remote area of ??military territory, while the supply ship released another device.
Scientists estimate that the capsule contains at least a cup of debris from the carbon-rich asteroid, but they won’t have absolute guarantees until they open the container. This operation may take several days, according to agency spokespersons.
There are doubts about the contents, because some of the items spilled out and floated away when, three years ago, the spacecraft collected too much material and rocks jammed the lid of the container during collection.
