Member LoginMember Login - User registration - Setup as front page - Add to favorites - Sitemap NASA's final tally shows spacecraft returned double the amount of asteroid rubble !

NASA's final tally shows spacecraft returned double the amount of asteroid rubble

Time:2024-05-07 22:08:21 source:Earthly Encounters news portal

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA finally has counted up all the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft last fall — and it’s double the rubble return goal.

Officials reported Thursday that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 121.6 grams (4.29 ounces) of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. That’s just over half a cup and the biggest cosmic haul ever from beyond the moon.

It took NASA longer than expected to pry open the sample container because of stuck fasteners.

The black, carbon-rich samples — the first ever collected from an asteroid by NASA — are stored at a special curation lab at Houston’s Johnson Space Center.

Osiris-Rex returned the samples last September, three years after gathering them from the asteroid. The haul for the $1 billion mission would have been greater, but rocks jammed the lid of the container following the grab and some samples floated away.

Related information
  • The Celtics and Cavaliers last met in playoffs in 2018. This time Boston is the team to beat
  • Economy on stable footing, experts say
  • Maglev train with a speed of 600 kilometers per hour debuted at the World Manufacturing Conference
  • China Eastern Airlines to operate more C919 planes
  • Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin, the dominant NASCAR Cup Series drivers, could have a blooming rivalry
  • A photovoltaic power station was built on the rooftop of a residential building in Zhengzhou
  • Fujian Jinhua 'not guilty' in Micron case
  • WMC to exhibit Anhui's manufacturing prowess
Recommended content
  • I survived being 'internally decapitated' after a drunk driver plowed into me
  • Economy improving, with SOEs poised to lead
  • Industrial upgrades crucial to propelling growth
  • Chinese telecom firms urge more cooperation
  • John Swinney is crowned as SNP leader
  • Chinese firms rush to obtain global orders: experts