Asteroid dust brought to Earth

A space capsule landed in the USA on the 24th of September. On board there was about 250g of old rocks and dust that have scientists very excited.

Why the excitement?
NASA thought that if they could study an asteroid, they could learn a lot more about how the solar system was formed.

They decided to study Asteroid Bennu. Asteroid Bennu is an asteroid that circles the sun every 435 days. Bennu was chosen as the target of study because it has a very dark surface and is classified as a B-type asteroid. Such asteroids are considered primitive, having undergone little geological change from their time of formation.  The spacecraft was called OSIRIS-REx and controlled from Earth.

It was launched on the 8th September 2017. The spacecraft caught up with Asteroid Bennu on the 3rd of December 2018.

For the next two years the asteroid surface was studied in order for the best place to try and land the spacecraft to get a sample.

On the 20th of October 2020 OSIRIS-REx landed on Asteroid Bennu.

It collected. While the spacecraft was there it extended a robotic arm and blasted the surface of the asteroid with a puff of gas. Collecting the rocks and dust displaced by the gas.

The spaceship then had to wait until the 10th of May 2021 before departing from Asteriod Bennu. This meant that Spacecraft OSIRIS-REx would be on the correct flight path that would take it near enough to Earth for it to ’drop off’ the capsule that was filled with the rocks and dust collected from Asteroid Bennu.

The capsule filled with rocks and dust successfully landed in the USA on the 24th of September 2023.

Spacecraft OSIRIS-REx is on its next mission to study Asteroid 99942 Apophis. The spacecraft is expected to arrive at Asteroid Apophis in April 2029