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NASA scientists are just beginning to reveal details about roughly 250 grams of dust and rocks brought back to Earth from the asteroid Bennu. The samples are the result of the first U.S. mission to return a sample from an asteroid, and the largest cache of material ever collected beyond the orbit of the moon.
The capsule containing the Bennu samples parachuted down to a desert landing site in Utah, where it was picked up and helicoptered to NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston. NASA scientists carefully opened the capsule in a dedicated clean room designed to ensure that the pristine asteroid material wouldn’t be contaminated by any terrestrial material.
The mission returned some bonus material as well, in the form of loose debris that was inadvertently kicked up into the capsule in the area around the collection container, prior to the capsule sealing up for the trip home. The science team has delayed opening the main sample canister, instead taking time to collect and analyze the bonus sample.
Other grains contain elements common on Earth, including carbon and iron, Lauretta said, as well as platelike sulfur structures that may have been crucial for jump-starting life.
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