NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission brought a lot more asteroid sample than expected

NASA's initial curation of the Asteroid Bennu sample brought back to Earth by OSIRIS-REx is off to a slow start as the mission brought back more than expected.

OSIRIS rex mission asteroid sample return capsule charred from its entry into earth

The OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule can be seen here at the landing site, charred from its entry into Earth. (NASA/Keegan Barber)

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After NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) OSIRIS-REx mission brought back a bit of the asteroid Bennu to Earth, the initial curation process of the sample is going much slower than expected. But there is a good reason for that—it brought back a lot more material than the scientists expected.

Since an abundance of material was found when the sample canister lid was removed last month, the process of removing and disassembling the TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) head is being done very methodically. The TAGSAM head contains a bulk of the sample.

After the sample was collected from the asteroid more than three years ago, scientists expected to find some asteroid material in the canister outside the head. This is because they saw some particles slowly escaping when the sample was collected. But the actual amount of particles that coated the inside of the canister lid was much more than they expected.

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The first sample collected from outside TAGSAM is now going through a quick-look analysis, which will give scientists an initial understanding of the Bennu material and what they can expect when the bulk sample is removed.

The touch-and-go camera system (TAGCAM) on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured visuals of the sample return capsule as it was “dropped” to Earth.

This footage was captured as #NASA‘s #OSIRISREx mission dropped a capsule containing samples of the asteroid #bennu to Earth. pic.twitter.com/s4V9GVvBHM

— IE Science (@iexpressscience) October 4, 2023

Interestingly, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is not done. It is now on a course to the asteroid Apophis on a new mission with a new name— OSIRIS-APEX.

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