Bennu Samples are Safe on Earth

The OSIRIS-REx probe has safely deposited at least 250 mg (about 0.45 pounds) of samples from asteroid Bennu in the Utah desert. 

The spacecraft approached Earth at 47,000 km/hr (faster than an Apollo moon capsule), survived the heat of reentry, and released the 46kg capsule. The capsule landed by parachute with helicopters swarming around it like, well, helicopters at 0852 Mountain Time.  While two Japanese probes have grabbed samples off asteroids, the new sample is much larger, allowing for multiple teams of scientists to study it and for some to be locked away for the next generations of scientists to study afresh.  The NASA team, plus other affiliated scientists, will be examining the material for any signs of amino acids or even primitive organic matter that may offer clues to the development of life here and elsewhere. 

NASA depiction of OSIRIS-REx approaching landing 

Watch the landing video here. 

Bennu, the self-declared mission mascot owned by my friend / space nut Kris Winkler and her husband, former Lockheed Martin VP Blake Davis, pops his head up to watch the coverage and is ecstatic as the probe (built by Lockheed in partnership with NASA), 

Project manager Richard Burns said, "What would be really exciting is if we saw any evidence that those amino acids had started to link together to form a  chain, which we call peptides. That would give us some indication that, towards the origin of life, protein evolution may have occurred," Burns said, although he admitted finding organic matter was "a long shot." See the mission page here. 

Seven years after launch, the $800m program has delivered pieces of Bennu - chosen because it might hold carbon and water, essential for development of any life, in its grit and rock - to advance science in half a dozen disciplines.  

Congratulations to all!

Bennu, like the mission team, was wiped out by all the excitement.

Images from NASA

Matt Bille is a science writer and lead author of the NASA-published history The First Space Race: Launching the World's First Satellites.

 Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in Colorado Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com.