Several months after OSIRIS-REx's sample container arrived on the planet, it is only now that scientists and researchers were able to fully open the capsule that holds most of the collected space debris from asteroid Bennu. The contents of this capsule are the first-ever asteroid sample return from NASA's mission to collect cosmic materials for further studies.
(Photo : NASA/Robert Markowitz)
For about 4 months, NASA struggled to remove two fasteners that held the samples securely, preventing the team from accessing the highly valuable space debris for their studies.
NASA Opens Asteroid Bennu's Sample Container
Earlier today, NASA shared significant news with the world, and it is their successful removal of the "hurdle" that prevented them from opening the OSIRIS-REx's sample capsule. There were two final fasteners that refused to budge despite using the tools from the spacecraft's glovebox, best known for being the approved instruments for opening the said capsule.
"Our engineers and scientists have worked tirelessly behind the scenes for months to not only process the more than 70 grams of material we were able to access previously, but also design, develop, and test new tools that allowed us to move past this hurdle," said Eileen Stansbery, division chief for ARES (Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science) at Johnson.
According to NASA, the next step in their asteroid study is the full extraction of the space debris left inside the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), which contains most of the collected materials from Bennu. For now, the team would focus on completely disassembling the head after seeing massive delays to its extraction.
It is known that in mid-October, the team paused the disassembly after facing the challenges.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission
After a long journey for NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, the spacecraft made its way back home last September 2023, ending the mission that spanned for years. NASA prepared for this exact moment before it arrived, with the space agency completing several drop tests for the delivery of the sample capsule that the spacecraft sent down to Utah last year.
While the most important aspect of the mission was the return of the capsule to the planet safely, there have been significant discoveries by researchers along the way, and it helped us learn more about the ancient asteroid. It took the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft two years to study Bennu before it proceeded with its touch-and-go landing to collect the samples and head back to the planet.
Four months later after developing new multi-tools to safely open OSIRIS-REx's capsule, the scientists have finally loosened the final two fasteners that seemed to be stuck on the container. Being one of the most crucial aspects of this recovery, NASA researchers are now on their way to completing the extraction and learn more about the colossal asteroid.
