Washington. The asteroid Pennu returned to Earth with a sample of its luggage, the NASA probe “Osiris-Rex”. The U.S. space agency NASA announced Monday that the probe had pulled out of Penn’s orbit. In October, “Osiris-Rex” took a sample from the asteroid during a complex maneuver that lasted several hours – the first American missile in space history. The study is expected to deliver this model to Earth in September 2023.
NASA researchers still do not know exactly how many grams of dust and debris are from the asteroid in the model. There was a break during the maneuver: the lid of the collecting container was slightly open with large stones so that parts of the sample could escape. However, NASA scientists consider that 60 grams of dust and debris meet the minimum requirement – and may still be significantly higher in the collection container.
Planned to fall to earth
In September 2023, the “Osiris-Rex” model is expected to land on Earth, after which it will land in the US state of Utah with the help of parachutes. NASA staff then take the sample to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where it distributes its components to laboratories around the world.
“Osiris Rex” (Abbreviation: Origin, Spectrum, Resource Identification, Security-Recolith Explorer) was launched from Cape Canaveral in September 2016 and came to Penn two years later. Since then, the study, which is six meters long and weighs 2100 kilograms, orbited the asteroid with its scientific instruments and cameras. Several times she flew very close to him.
The deep black pen, named after an ancient Egyptian deity, is about 550 meters in diameter and may come very close to Earth in a good 150 years. Although the risk of impact is very low, NASA is one of the most dangerous asteroids currently known – so it wants to research this very carefully.
In addition, scientists believe it will cost about $ 1 billion to provide information about the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago because the meteorite was its remnant. (dpa)
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