NASA’s asteroid exploration mission OSIRIS-REx has reached its goal, but most samples have yet to be extracted sorae space portal website

On October 20, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that the sample from asteroid 101955 Bennu had been returned to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx asteroid exploration mission, and announced that the weight of the samples collected by the processing team had been reduced to 70.3 grams. The OSIRIS-REx mission achieved its goal of collecting at least 60 grams of sample.[26 أكتوبر 2023، الساعة 10:00]

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was launched in September 2016 and arrived at Bennus in December 2018. After repeated observations from orbit, samples were collected from the surface on October 21, 2020, Japan time, and the ship departed Bennu in May 2021. The recovery capsule containing the sample will separate The spacecraft was released on September 24, 2023, Japan time, and it returned to the Earth’s atmosphere, landing at the Utah Test and Training Area in Utah, USA, at 23:52 Japan time on the same day. It has been very successful.

RELATED: NASA’s asteroid probe capsule lands! OSIRIS-REx Earth Return Bulletin (September 24, 2023)

[▲ كبسولة استعادة لمهمة استكشاف الكويكب “OSIRIS-REx” التي هبطت في منطقة يوتا للاختبار والتدريب في ولاية يوتا بالولايات المتحدة الأمريكية (مصدر الصورة NASA/Keegan Barber)]

On sample collection day, the spacecraft descended toward Bennu with a robotic arm equipped with a sample collection device called TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) at its tip. By injecting nitrogen gas at the moment the sampler comes into contact with the surface, the volatile matter is captured within the sampler. The collection device was detached from the robot arm on October 30, 2020, and stored in a sample container inside the recovery capsule. The collection device remained in the sample container for approximately three years until it was opened in a clean room at Johnson Space Center on September 26, 2023.

RELATED: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission sample container opens, black dust emerges (September 29, 2023)

[▲ تم الكشف عن غطاء حاوية العينة الذي تمت إزالته في صندوق القفازات (الخلف) وكشف TAGSAM (الوسط). ويمكن ملاحظة أن الغبار الأسود ملتصق بسطح TAGSAM وداخل الحاوية التي كان يغطيها الغطاء (مصدر الصورة NASA)]

As mentioned above, the goal of the OSIRIS-REx mission was to collect at least 60 grams of sample, but the actual sample collected is estimated at about 250 grams, four times that amount (robot arm movement before and after sample collection) estimated by comparison method). As of the announcement on October 20, 2023, a total of 70.3 grams have been collected, but it appears that the majority of the sample inside the collection device has not yet been removed.

RELATED: NASA releases samples collected from asteroid Bennu for the first time in the OSIRIS-REx asteroid exploration mission (October 15, 2023)

[▲ يتم جمع الغبار من بينو في صندوق قفازات مثبت في غرفة نظيفة مخصصة في مركز جونسون للفضاء. تم التقاط الصورة في 27 سبتمبر 2023 (مصدر الصورة NASA)]

NASA said 35 clips had to be removed to open the extraction device, two of which could not be removed using tools approved for use in clean room glove boxes. Some samples were successfully removed using tweezers or a shovel while pressing the lid(s) inside the collection device, and stones that passed through the lid and dust that adhered to the inside of the sample container were also removed. More than 60 grams were collected, but it is estimated that about three times that amount remained in the device.

The processing team currently collecting the samples will develop and implement a method to remove the remaining samples from the collection device while maintaining their condition during the processing of the collected samples.

[▲ المرجع: فيديو يوضح العملية بدءًا من جمع العينات باستخدام جهاز جمع العينات “TAGSAM” الخاص بالمركبة الفضائية OSIRIS-REx وحتى تخزينها في كبسولة الاسترداد]
In the scene from 0:24 to 0:30, the parts drawn with two straight lines in red are the panels inside the assembly device.
(Credit: NASA Goddard)

source

• NASA – OSIRIS-REx mission (NASA Blogs)

Text Editing/Syrian Studies Department