2023-09-26 06:21:09
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25, 2023 (Xinhua) — NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe delivered the first asteroid sample to Earth on Sunday, as the sample arrived at its permanent home at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday. NASA said that the mission team will spend the next few weeks in the clean room at the Johnson Space Center designed specifically for the sample collected from the asteroid Bennu, noting that the sample will be cared for, stored and distributed to scientists in other countries. It is noteworthy that the OSIRIS-REx mission is the first American mission to collect a sample from an asteroid. NASA said Sunday’s sample return represents the first sample return mission of this type in the United States and “will shed light on the very beginnings of the solar system.” Bennu is likely a remnant of the first solar system, as it is 4.5 billion years old, so the sample should provide insight into the role that similar asteroids played in forming planets and delivering organic materials and water to Earth, which may have eventually led to the emergence of life, according to the agency. NASA. Data collected from the OSIRIS-REx mission will also help scientists better understand asteroids that might impact Earth and illuminate future asteroid deflection efforts, according to NASA.
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