NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft touches asteroid Bennu, sends rubble flying, high hopes it grabbed sample
The NASA Osiris-Rex spacecraft "crushed rocks and sent rubble flying as it briefly touched an asteroid, a strong indication that samples were collected for return to Earth, officials said Wednesday," reports AP.
More at the OSIRIS-REX Sample Return Mission site: "OSIRIS-REx TAGS Asteroid Bennu."
Captured on Oct. 20, 2020 during the OSIRIS-REx mission's Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event, this series of images shows the SamCam imager's field of view as the NASA spacecraft approaches and touches down on asteroid Bennu's surface, over 200 million miles (321 million km) away from Earth. The sampling event brought the spacecraft all the way down to sample site Nightingale, touching down within three feet (one meter) of the targeted location. The team on Earth received confirmation at 6:08 pm EDT that successful touchdown occurred. Preliminary data show the one-foot-wide (0.3-meter-wide) sampling head touched Bennu's surface for approximately 6 seconds, after which the spacecraft performed a back-away burn.
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Xeni Jardin, Khareem Sudlow
