NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Successfully Collects Sample from Asteroid Bennu 🌑

On Oct. 20, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission touched asteroid Bennu, over 200 million miles from Earth. 🌌 The spacecraft’s robotic arm collected asteroid material in just 6 seconds. This historic event helps scientists study the building blocks of our solar system.

✨ Key Mission Facts:

🌑 Target: Asteroid Bennu, a carbon-rich near-Earth asteroid

🚀 Distance: 200 million miles (321 million km) from Earth

⏱️ Contact Duration: Only 6 seconds on the surface

🤖 Robotic Arm: TAGSAM (Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism)

💨 Nitrogen Gas: Stirred up rocks and dust for capture

📦 Sample: Regolith (rock + dust) from site “Nightingale”

🔥 Speed: 0.2 mph on touchdown, 0.9 mph when backing away

🛰️ Imaging: 82 frames over 5 minutes, from 82 ft altitude to 43 ft

🌍 Goal: Return samples to Earth for study of solar system origins


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📷 Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

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