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| Click for larger image All images NASA |
This morning, the NASA mission called
OSIRIS-REX, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resources
Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer touched down in the Utah desert completing a seven year flight.The spacecraft set out
to retrieve material from Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid about 190 feet
wider than the height of the Empire State Building. Researchers hope
this pristine space dirt will reveal clues about the birth of our solar
system and the genesis of life on Earth.
Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid, is currently many millions of miles from our planet. Like other asteroids in the solar system, it is a geological relic of the protoplanetary disk — a swirling mix of gas and dust that eventually coalesced into planets — that surrounded our sun billions of years ago. One theory is that small worlds like Bennu once seeded Earth with the prebiotic ingredients needed to form life.
NASA ground recovery crews practicing their post-landing retrieval protocols earlier this month.
OSIRIS-REX's journey covered 4 billion miles!
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