NASA collects asteroid samples - 28th October 2020

A mission to gather samples of the early solar system from asteroid Bennu by NASA's robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-REx has been a success.

The automated space probe launched from the famed Cape Canaveral Air-Force base on 8th September 2016. It then made it 330 million kilometres through space to touch down on the surface of Bennu.

Dante Lauretta: “And so this is what is actually at the end of that long robotic arm. You can see it's about 30 centimetres or about a foot in diameter. And this is what we placed onto the surface of the asteroid.”

The force of the spacecraft’s landing was channelled through its robotic arm, cracking Bennu's surface. Then, OSIRIS-REx sent a blast of nitrogen through the base of the arm and forced the gravel and dust into its collection chamber.

This operation gathered 400 grammes of material from the surface of Bennu before the spacecraft lifted off for its return to Earth.

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere with the samples in 2023.