A micrograph of a dark Bennu particle, about a millimeter long, with a crust of bright phosphate. A smaller fragment that has broken off is visible on the right. Credit: From Lauretta & Connolly et al. (2024) Meteoritics and planetary sciencedoi:10.1111/maps.14227 Analysis of a sample from the asteroid Bennu has revealed essential components of life … Read more
NASA’s first asteroid sample is the most pristine sample of its kind. Now, back on Earth, the sample from the asteroid Bennu has already yielded surprising discoveries about the early solar system and the asteroid’s possible origins. After a seven-year journey to the asteroid Bennu and back, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft last year returned a sample … Read more
On September 24, 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft dropped a capsule on Earth containing pristine carbonaceous regolith collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. These samples were obtained after the probe completed an impressive seven-year tour of the solar system and back. Since these pieces of space rock arrived (about 120 grams of sample, to be precise), … Read more
This article was reviewed according to Science fact checked trusted source proofread OK! A small portion of the asteroid Bennu sample returned by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, shown in microscope images. The top left panel shows a dark Bennu particle, about a millimeter long, with an outer crust of bright phosphate. The other three panels show … Read more
Early analysis of the asteroid Bennu sample returned by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has revealed dust rich in carbon, nitrogen and organic compounds, all of which are essential components for life as we know it. The sample is dominated by clay minerals, particularly serpentine, and reflects the type of rocks found on Earth at mid-ocean ridges. … Read more
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover stores rock and soil samples in sealed tubes on Earth’s surface for retrieval on future missions, as shown in this illustration. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Tucked away at every rock and soil sample collected by NASA‘s Perseverance rover is a potential boon for atmospheric scientists. NASA’s perseverance Mars Rover is collecting samples on … Read more
This article was reviewed according to Science fact checked trusted source proofread OK! This image shows the rock core of “Berea” in the drill of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Each core the rover takes is about the size of a piece of classroom chalk: 0.5 inches (13 millimeters) in diameter and 2.4 inches (60 millimeters) … Read more
Enlarge / An artist’s concept of a Mars Ascent Vehicle orbiting the red planet. NASA announced Friday that it will award contracts to seven companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, to study how to more cheaply transport rock samples from Mars back to Earth. The space agency in April put out a call for industry … Read more
The chief scientist of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is excited about material stored in the rover’s sample tubes, dropped both on the surface of Mars and in the rover itself while orbiting Jezero Crater. Given the Martian samples Perseverance has collected so far, could one of those be what the rover was meant to look … Read more