NASA finally opened the asteroid container and holy crap, that's a lot of asteroids

An aluminum can containing fragments of an ancient space rock has finally been opened, revealing the bulk of the asteroid Bennu sample in all its glory.

Earlier this month, NASA's OSIRIS-REx team was able to open TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) after developing new tools to deal with two stuck fasteners standing in the way of the asteroid sample. With the head of the sampler finally opened, NASA revealed the remaining unseen samples, showing that there were a lot of asteroids inside. This is great news for scientific teams around the world who have been waiting to obtain a piece that might contain clues about the origin of the solar system.

The image below was captured by Advanced Astrophysics Imaging and Visualization (AIVA) creative lead, Erika Blumenfeld, and project leader, Joe Aebersold, using high-resolution manual photography and a semi-automated focus stacking procedure, according to NASA.

There are still a few steps before the bulk of the asteroid sample can be removed. The curation team will now remove the circular metal collar and transfer the remaining sample from the TAGSAM head into smaller, circular wedge-shaped sample trays. These trays will be photographed before the sample is weighed, packaged and stored at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

The weight of the sample has not yet been determined, which will reveal the exact amount of asteroid material delivered by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to Earth. When the aluminum lid of the sample tray was first removed, Team members found black dust and debris On the avionics surface of the case. They also removed some of the material from inside the case using tweezers or a scoop while holding down the mylar covering of the TAGSAM head. The total amount of sample weighed so far is estimated at 8.8 ounces (250 grams) of rock and dust. With the additional sample alone, NASA has already exceeded its goal of bringing at least 2.12 ounces (60 grams) to Earth.

The OSIRIS-REx mission launched in September 2016 and arrived at asteroid Bennu in December 2018. Jagged pieces of a small near-Earth asteroid in October 2020, and began returning to Earth in May 2021.

The spacecraft dropped the sample in the Utah desert in September 2023, but… NASA was struggling to open the round head for sampling At the end of the articulated arm that the spacecraft used to capture the sample. In November, the regulatory team began working on developing new tools that could fit inside the glove box housing the case, and finally succeeded in getting around those pesky fasteners.

The returned asteroid pieces will be divided among a sample analysis team of 230 global scientists to delve deeper into Bennu's formation. NASA will keep at least 70% of the sample at the Johnson Space Center for future research decades from now, with the hope of taking advantage of advanced technology in the coming years. Some parts of the asteroid will also be made available for public display at the Smithsonian Institution, Space Center in Houston and the University of Arizona.

Bennu is a small near-Earth asteroid that passes by Earth every six years or so. Scientists believe that Bennu may have separated from a much larger, carbon-rich asteroid about 700 million to 2 billion years ago, and has drifted close to Earth since then. Analyzing parts of the asteroid in the laboratory will help scientists gather evidence about the origins of the solar system.

NASA stated that the final mass of the sample will be determined in the coming weeks. We can't wait to learn more about the asteroid sample that keeps emerging.

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