Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, October 12 (Xinhua)-- the US NASA asteroid sampling probe Pluto "OSIRIS-REx" was launched in 2016, successfully collected rock samples on the asteroid Bennu in 2020, and successfully sent the sample module back to Earth on September 25.

NASA held a live broadcast tonight to show you the samples brought back by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from the Benu asteroid. Let's take a look.

First of all, the sample collected by the Pluto probe weighs about 250 grams and contains rocks, dust particles and medium-sized particles of all sizes, more than the original plan of 60 grams. NASA said carbon and hydrated minerals had been found in the sample.

Dante Lauretta (Dante Lauretta), lead researcher of the OSIRIS-REx project, explained that an electron microscope analysis of the Benu rock showed that the crystal structure of the clay minerals contained water.

In addition, these samples contain sulfur, a mineral critical to planetary evolution and protein structure. Finally, iron oxide minerals that can respond to magnetic fields have been found, including those that may have played a role in the origin of life on Earth.

Dr. Daniel Glavin, an OSIRIS-REx sample analyst, shared some details about carbon. According to reports, the Carnegie Institute of Science found 4.7% of the carbon in it after analysis, which is the highest percentage of 250 alien samples analyzed by Carnegie.

Of course, it is expected that the sample contains carbon, but the water in it is a major discovery. In fact, some researchers believe that Earth's early water and life may be the result of the impact of asteroids and comets rich in water and organic matter.

"OSIRIS-REx samples are the largest carbon-enriched asteroid samples ever sent to Earth and will help scientists explore the sources of life on Earth and contribute to generations," said NASA Director Bill Nelson.

Of course, the research on these samples has only just begun. NASA says it will continue to study the particles and will set up some kind of registry for scientists from other organizations to study, and plans to send some of the samples to museums for exhibition.

"[we] will continue to study the secrets hidden in the rocks and dust from asteroids for decades to come," NASA said. "We will continue to study the secrets hidden in the rocks and dust from asteroids in order to provide clues as to how precursors of life appear on Earth and what precautions need to be taken to prevent asteroids from colliding with our homes."

According to CTOnews.com, the NASA Pluto probe was launched on September 8, 2016, with the full name "Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer", meaning the origin of the solar system, spectral analysis, resource identification, security-asteroid weathering explorer, or "OSIRIS-REx".

OSIRIS is the god of Egyptian mythology, Osiris, who has a dual identity as a fertile god who spreads agricultural knowledge (symbolizing the return mission of asteroid sampling to tell people about the origin of life) and the king of the underworld (symbolizing the destruction of asteroid impact).

Rex means "king" in Latin, and NASA may have come up with the acronym associated with Tyrannosaurus rex, which became extinct 6600 million years ago, and may have a bit of a sense of "vengeance" for Tyrannosaurus Rex flying to an asteroid (one hypothesis is that dinosaur extinction was caused by an asteroid impact on Earth).

The near-Earth asteroid, known as Bennu, code-named 101955, is about 500m in diameter and orbits between Venus and Mars (the average orbital distance from the sun is about 168 million km), slightly farther but crossed than Earth's orbit.

Benu orbits the sun every 1.2 Earth years and rotates around its axis every 4.3 hours. And approach the earth every six years. Scientists have found that it is an ancient relic of the early days of our solar system, with a history of more than 4.5 billion years.

Pluto reached its target in December 2018, setting a record for the smallest cosmic object ever orbiting a spacecraft.

On October 20, 2020, the Pluto probe landed successfully in the Nightingale sampling area and grabbed debris and dust particles from the asteroid surface with the help of a 0.3-meter-diameter sampling head.

Pluto sealed the samples in its re-entry module on October 28, 2020, and then set sail back with the precious asteroid samples on May 10, 2021.

Finally, after more than two years, four months and various tribulations, Pluto arrived above Earth on September 24, 2023 and dropped the re-entry capsule containing samples of the asteroid Benu into the Earth's atmosphere. finally landed at the Utah testing and training ground in the Utah Desert. It is worth mentioning that this is also where the NASA Stardust probe returned with comet samples on January 15, 2006.

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