NASA Scientists Have Opened A Container With Soil From Asteroid Bennu

NASA researchers in a sterile box opened a capsule with soil samples from the asteroid Bennu obtained by the OSIRIS-REx apparatus. The capsule landed last Sunday after a nearly three-year space mission.

The samples of “dust” from the inner surface of the capsule will be sent for analysis to one of NASA’s laboratories. It is expected that this Friday it will be possible to find out for sure whether this “dust” has been collected from the asteroid or is it something else. But the real treasure lies in the TAGSAM sampler, which has yet to be removed from the capsule. Experts expect this to take about two weeks.

About 70% of the samples from asteroid Bennu will be set aside for future research using equipment that has yet to be developed and built. The remaining 30% will be distributed among a number of laboratories around the world, which will allow a fairly quick impression of the material from the asteroid and its chemical composition.