Capsule With Soil From Asteroid Bennu Delivered To Earth
It has been 20 years since NASA officials selected the OSIRIS-REx mission to explore the surface of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. And now this lander is returning with 60 grams of soil.
The capsule with soil samples landed on the territory of the US Department of Defense test site in the Utah desert at 10:52 local time. Ten minutes earlier, it separated from the OSIRIS-Rex automatic station and entered the atmosphere of our planet off the coast of California.
After entering the atmosphere, the smaller of the two parachutes opened, necessary to stabilize the flight. The main parachute opened and by the time it touched the surface of the planet, the speed of the capsule decreased from hypersonic to approximately 18 km/h.
Studying the soil from Bennu will help scientists learn more about the early stages of the solar system. In addition, there may be confirmation of the theory of panspermia, according to which life was brought to our planet from space.
