This combination of 2019 and 2021 images provided by NASA shows how Bennu’s local surface changed after the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft took an asteroid sample on October 20, 2020. The previous image, above, was taken on March 7. , 2019, and the bottom was taken on April 7, 2021, as part of the final observations to document the surface after the purchase of the sample. The Nightingale site is located in the relatively clear patch just above the center of the crater – visible in the center of the previous image. The large, dark boulder located in the center right measures 13 meters on the longest axis. (NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona through AP)
This combination of 2019 and 2021 images provided by NASA shows how Bennu’s local surface changed after the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft took an asteroid sample on October 20, 2020. The previous image, above, was taken on March 7. , 2019, and the bottom was taken on April 7, 2021, as part of the final observations to document the surface after the purchase of the sample. The Nightingale site is located in the relatively clear patch just above the center of the crater – visible in the center of the previous image. The large, dark boulder located in the center right measures 13 meters on the longest axis. (NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona through AP)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) – A NASA spacecraft left a mess on an asteroid when it caught a load of debris last year to return to Earth, new images revealed on Thursday.
The Osiris-Rex spacecraft made one last flight of the asteroid Bennu on April 7 to take pictures of the disturbances left by the October sample collection.
A depression is visible where Osiris-Rex has penetrated the asteroid’s surface. The boulders were thrown by the pressurized nitrogen gas that was drawn into the ground to shake the suction material and by the spacecraft’s propeller. A 1-ton boulder was thrown at about 12 meters.
The Osiris-Rex team meticulously planned the last flight to ensure the best photos. The pictures were taken around noon to avoid shadows and better see the changes on Bennu’s rocky surface.
“These observations were not in the original plan of the mission, so we were delighted to return and document what we did,” Dathon Golish of the University of Arizona said in a statement.
Osiris-Rex will leave Bennu’s neighborhood next month and return to Earth with its precious 1-kilogram sample cargo. It must arrive in 2023.
The carbon-rich orbiting solar asteroid is 293 million kilometers from Earth. By studying pieces of it, scientists hope to better understand how the planets of our solar system formed and how humans should react if an asteroid endangers the Earth.
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