NASA received an asteroid sample capsule that parachuted into the Utah desert yesterday, capping a seven-year wait. The estimated 8.8 ounces of pebbles and dust could answer how life originated on Earth.
NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft helped deliver the sample capsule after nearly a 4 billion-mile journey through space.
The samples collected from the carbon-rich asteroid Bennu are the largest amount ever collected. Japan was the only other country to collect surface material from asteroid missions earlier, but it was only a spoonful.
Why is it a big deal?
The larger the sample, the more tests scientists can run to find answers to the most common scientific theory that an asteroid's impact on the Earth 4.5 billion years ago created a chemical reaction that birthed living organisms.
“They might have delivered the ocean water, the molecules that are in our atmosphere, and maybe even the organic materials that triggered the origin of life on our planet, “ says Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for Osiris-Rex missions.
The sample will be flown to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, which also houses the moon rocks gathered from the Apollo missions. It is the first time NASA has ever gathered a sample from an asteroid.
Why Bennu?
Bennu was born from an ancient collision in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and was discovered in 1999. It was singled out by NASA because it could contain biochemical building blocks needed for life.
It is also the most potentially hazardous asteroid in the solar system that is expected to come close enough to hit our planet in 2182. The surface samples could help with asteroid-deflection effort, says Lauretta.