The collection of the asteroid sample had marked a major development in space exploration and research into potentially hazardous asteroids.
NASA published images of the first asteroid sample brought to earth on Wednesday after its successful retrieval from space last month, following a seven-year ‘OSIRIS-REx’ mission.
The first ever images of the sample from asteroid Bennu showed a pile of black ashes and coal-like rocks, providing evidence of high-carbon and water—possibly suggesting the “building blocks” of life on planet earth.
The asteroid was first discovered in 1999.
“The OSIRIS-REx sample is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever delivered to Earth and will help scientists investigate the origins of life on our own planet for generations to come,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson during the event on Wednesday, as quoted in a statement by the agency.
NASA’s first and largest asteroid sample had landed on earth in September following a $1 billion mission, carrying 250 gram material made up of pebbles and dust.
The 4.5 billion-year-old sample was first kept in a capsule and delivered via the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that had touched down at the Department of Defence’s Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City.
The collection of the asteroid sample had marked a major development in space exploration and research into potentially hazardous asteroids.
“NASA missions like OSIRIS-REx will improve our understanding of asteroids that could threaten Earth while giving us a glimpse into what lies beyond. The sample has made it back to Earth, but there is still so much science to come – science like we’ve never seen before,” Nelson explained.
However, NASA said more work is needed to better understand the carbon compounds found in outer space and the formation of the solar system.
While the initial goal was to collect 60 grams of asteroid material, the astronauts managed to gather bonus material.
“We’ve had scientists and engineers working side-by-side for years to develop specialised gloveboxes and tools to keep the asteroid material pristine and to curate the samples so researchers now and decades from now can study this precious gift from the cosmos,” Vanessa Wyche, director at the NASA Johnson Space Center, said.
Aside from the United States, Japan is the only other country that brought back such samples from asteroids, though the latest pieces are the biggest to land on earth, per a previous report by the Associated Press (AP).
Bennu is currently orbiting the sun at 81 million kilometers from planet earth and is almost the size of the Empire State Building. The asteroid is expected to edge closer to earth by 2182, just enough to hit the planet, the AP added.
Dissecting the sample
The safely-stored sample took two weeks to analyse by carefully scanning it through X-ray diffraction and chemical element analysis, NASA said in a statement.
Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator, said the first analysis was merely “the tip of the cosmic ice berg”, noting that the agency was “unlocking a time capsule” of the solar system.
“The bounty of carbon-rich material and the abundant presence of water-bearing clay minerals are just the tip of the cosmic iceberg. These discoveries, made possible through years of dedicated collaboration and cutting-edge science, propel us on a journey to understand not only our celestial neighborhood but also the potential for life’s beginnings,” Lauretta said.
Scientists at the American agency are carrying out further analysis into the sample for the next couple of years while preserving at least 70% of the material at Johnson for further research by scientists globally, NASA said.
However, NASA fell short of mentioning the complete list of potential recipients, though it named agencies in the US, Canada and Japan.
