OSIRIS-REx (mission to grab bit of asteroid)

[Kyng]

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/23/2153...nnu-escape

ASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft did its job a little too well on Tuesday, when it tried to scoop up a handful of rocks from an asteroid named Bennu more than 200 million miles from Earth. The vehicle actually grabbed too much material with its robotic arm, jamming the lid at the end of the arm open — and letting part of the asteroid sample escape out into space.

“We were almost a victim of our own success here,” said Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission at the University of Arizona, in a press conference.

OSIRIS-REx’s mission is to bring a sample of asteroid material back to Earth so that scientists can study the rocks in a lab. But because OSIRIS-REx bit off more than it could chew, its mission team is racing to stow the sample inside the spacecraft’s belly, so the vehicle doesn’t lose too much material to the void. “Time is of the essence, and no, we won’t sleep,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for science, in a press conference.

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Oh dear . Still, I suppose having too much material is better than having too little.

I just hope this doesn't jeopardise the plans to bring it back to Earth!

[SpookyZalost]

lol yeah I read about this, it was pretty amusing that their sample collector worked too well.

here's hoping they can use that knowledge to develop an asteroid mining prototype.

[Kyng]

Yeah, they certainly should be able to - although, it might be quite a while before we actually get to use it. I can't see it happening until we encounter urgent shortages of these materials on Earth - which should give us plenty of time to develop one!

[SpookyZalost]

haha but asteroids have materials we are already short of on earth.

Platinum, irridium, silicon just to name a few.

and I personally would like to see Solar sail driven mining probes which can assemble capsules in situ and send them back.

but that's at least a few decades out.

I'm looking forward to hearing how things went for the probe on monday after they get the samples inside.

[Kyng]

Well, the asteroid samples are on their way back to Earth now:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66893661

Best of luck to them !

[ZandraJoi]

Well, the asteroid samples are on their way back to Earth now:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66893661

Best of luck to them !

"Nasa wants to learn more about the mountainous object, not least because it has an outside chance of hitting our planet in the next 300 years."

I'm not sure humans will even be around with the way we are going to care if it hits our planet or not lol
Imagine doing the research on samples such as these! Be kinda cool!

[Kyng]

Well, the asteroid samples are on their way back to Earth now:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66893661

Best of luck to them !

"Nasa wants to learn more about the mountainous object, not least because it has an outside chance of hitting our planet in the next 300 years."

I'm not sure humans will even be around with the way we are going to care if it hits our planet or not lol
Imagine doing the research on samples such as these! Be kinda cool!

Well, the good news is that: a) the earliest the impact could take place is in the year 2178, and b) the chances of an impact are estimated at 1 in 1750:

https://www.space.com/asteroid-bennu-osi...mpact-odds

That gives us at least 155 years to prepare. Fortunately,
we're already working on that