NASA will reveal what OSIRIS-REx introduced again from asteroid Bennu on Wednesday

NASA will give the general public a have a look at the asteroid pattern introduced again to Earth by its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft subsequent week. A of the reveal is ready for 11 AM ET on Wednesday, October 11. The capsule containing rocks and dirt taken from the floor of the near-Earth asteroid “Bennu” touched down at a Division of Protection coaching website within the Utah desert on September 24, and scientists have since been at work making their preliminary analyses.

OSIRIS-REx again in 2020 and spent the next year-and-a-half observing the asteroid from above, earlier than beginning to make its approach again towards Earth in Could 2021. After its dropoff final month, the canister was dropped at Houston, Texas to be opened at NASA’s Johnson House Heart. OSIRIS-REx, alternatively, remains to be in house, now heading to an asteroid known as Apophis beneath a brand new mission title, OSIRIS-APEX.

Asteroid Bennu is estimated to be over 4.5 billion years outdated, which means its supplies may maintain clues into the formation of the photo voltaic system and the way the constructing blocks of life made it to Earth. And, to scientists’ delight, the mission managed to seize extra materials than anybody anticipated. “The easiest ‘downside’ to have is that there’s a lot materials, it’s taking longer than we anticipated to gather it,” mentioned , NASA’s deputy OSIRIS-REx curation lead. With the livestream developing, we’ll quickly know extra about what they’ve present in that materials thus far.