NASA recently launched its first mission into space to sample asteroids from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The scientists are hopeful that the new mission will help improve their understanding of the formation of the solar system and its early behavior.
NASA's new asteroid-hunting mission was launched on Sept. 8, Thursday, at 7:05 p.m. EDT. The team at NASA is particularly excited about the mission because of the numerous possibilities that lie ahead, including knowledge gain about the origin of the solar system.
This has been made possible through the launch of Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft. According to NASA, the specialized spacecraft would reach an asteroid called Bennu, collect samples and return with them to Earth. Bennu and several other asteroids are considered to be the remnants from the formation of the solar system, which took place more than 4.5 million years ago.
Scientists believe that such asteroids could have been the source of energy, water, and organic molecules for the formation of Earth and several other planets in the solar system.
The team could have analyzed the asteroid samples that reached Earth in the form of a meteorite. However, they are often contaminated. OSIRIS-Rex will return with pure samples from asteroid Bennu, enabling researchers to conduct a precise analysis. The results would, therefore, have far more useful implications that what has been achieved so far by the study of meteorites and spacecraft-based instruments.
Bennu is similar to a mountain in size and OSIRIS-Rex is expected to approach Bennu in 2018, before studying and mapping the asteroid for sample collection. The spacecraft would launch a probe to identify a suitable site for collecting asteroid samples.
On July 25, the arm of the spacecraft would stir up the surface of the asteroid to collect small tocks and dirt in a container. The spacecraft is expected to return back to Earth with the container in September 2023.This is the first mission conducted by NASA that aims at collecting pure samples from an asteroid for further analysis on Earth.
