CNN Indonesia
Tuesday, 26 Sep 2023 08:37 IWST
NASA will study samples from the asteroid Bennu to uncover the mysteries of the universe. (Photo: (NASA/Keegan Barber)/NASA/Keegan Barber)
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Rock and dust samples from asteroid Bennu successfully reached Earth after traveling billions of kilometers with the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security, Regolith Expolrer) spacecraft NASA.
NASA, in a statement on its official website, revealed that the capsule landed on Sunday (24/9) at 08.52 MDT (21.52 WIB), in the targeted area at the Utah Test and Training Area selected by the US Department of Defense, near Salt Lake City.
“Congratulations to the OSIRIS-REx team on a perfect mission – the first American asteroid sample return in history – that will deepen our understanding of the origins of our solar system and its formation,” said NASA Director Bill Nelson.
So, what exactly is the asteroid Bennu whose samples were brought to Earth for study?
Bennu is an asteroid containing a pile of debris shaped like a spinning top, about a third of a mile (500 meters) wide and consisting of rocks bound by gravity.
Thanks to the overall survey, the mission team received data that had never been obtained before about the asteroid. This includes the discovery of water in the form of ice locked in rocks, to carbon which is largely associated with life.
Bennu can also be said to be an ancient relic from the early days of our Solar System, because it has experienced a history of more than 4.5 billion years. Scientists suspect that within 10 million years after the Solar System formed, Bennu’s current composition would have been formed.
Collect official page NASA, Bennu most likely separated from a much larger, carbon-rich asteroid around 700 million to 2 billion years ago. Bennu likely formed in the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, and has since drifted closer to Earth.
Because it is so old, Bennu may contain organic molecules similar to molecules that may have been involved in the beginning of life on Earth.
Why asteroid analysis?
Scientists will analyze rock and soil from the asteroid Bennu over the next two years in a special room inside the Johnson Space Center.
About 70 percent of the samples will remain pristine in storage so that future generations with better technology can study more of them.
Neil Bowles, an expert from Oxford University, revealed that one of the benefits of sampling is so that scientists can compare the results of laboratory tests with remote observations made by the OSIRIS-REx telescope.
He is also an expert who will heat Bennu rock fragments to explore the infrared radiation they emit. Neil said this research could help scientists to more accurately explore compositional differences across Bennu’s surface.
Kerri Donaldson Hanna, a planetary geologist at the University of Central Florida, said such “field examinations” could also help scientists interpret observations of other asteroids in the Solar System that can only be studied with telescopes or space probes.
“This is really interesting,” he said.
Understanding the composition and orbit of asteroids is key in predicting which asteroids may approach Earth and when they will. In addition, the samples are said to reveal information about the formation and history of the Solar System, as well as the role of asteroids in helping develop habitable planets like Earth.
(tim/dmi)
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2023-09-26 01:37:00
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