NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft leaving the surface of asteroid Bennu after gathering a sample. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab/SVS
Scientists have discovered something amazing after evaluating information gathered when NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft gathered a sample from asteroid Bennu in October 2020. The spacecraft would have sunk into the asteroid had it not fired its thrusters to pull back instantly after it got its sample of dust and rock from Bennus surface area.
All of a sudden, it turns out that the particles making up Bennus outside are so loosely jam-packed and lightly bound to each other that if an individual were to step onto the asteroid they would feel really little resistance. It would be like stepping into a pit of plastic balls that are popular backyard for kids.
” If Bennu was entirely loaded, that would indicate almost strong rock, but we discovered a great deal of void area in the surface area,” stated Kevin Walsh, a member of the OSIRIS-REx science group from Southwest Research Institute, which is based in San Antonio.
Side-by-side images from NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft of the robotic arm as it descended towards the surface of asteroid Bennu (left) and as it tapped it to stir up dust and rock for sample collection (right). OSIRIS-REx touched down on Bennu at 6:08 pm EDT on October 20, 2020. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight
The most current findings about Bennus surface were released on July 7, 2022, in a set of papers in the journals Science and Science Advances, led respectively by Dante Lauretta, principal investigator of OSIRIS-REx, based at University of Arizona, Tucson, and Kevin Walsh. These surprising outcomes add to the intrigue that has gripped researchers throughout the OSIRIS-REx objective, as Bennu has proved consistently unforeseeable.
The first surprise the asteroid provided was in December 2018, when NASAs spacecraft arrived at Bennu. The OSIRIS-REx team discovered a rough surface area cluttered with boulders instead of the smooth, sandy beach they had actually anticipated based upon observations from Earth- and space-based telescopes. Reasearchers also found that Bennu was ejecting particles of rock from its surface into space.
” Our expectations about the asteroids surface area were completely incorrect,” said Lauretta.
The most recent clue that Bennu was not what it seemed followed the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft chose up a sample and beamed sensational, close-up pictures of the asteroids surface area to Earth. “What we saw was a substantial wall of particles radiating out from the sample website,” Lauretta stated. “We were like, Holy cow!”.
Near-Earth asteroid Bennu is a debris pile of boulders and rocks left over from the formation of the solar system. On October 20, 2020, NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touched down on Bennu and collected a sample for go back to Earth. During this event the spacecrafts arm sank far deeper into the asteroid than expected, confirming that Bennus surface area is loosely bound. Now, researchers have utilized data from OSIRIS-REx to review the sample-collection occasion and much better comprehend how Bennus loose upper layers are held together. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab/SVS.
Objective researchers were astonished by the abundance of pebbles strewn about, given how carefully the spacecraft tapped the surface. The mission group decided to send out the spacecraft back to take more photos of Bennus surface “to see how huge of a mess we made,” Lauretta stated.
This data exposed that as OSIRIS-REx touched the asteroid it experienced the same quantity of resistance– very little bit– a person would feel while squeezing the plunger on a French press coffee carafe. “By the time we fired our thrusters to leave the surface we were still plunging into the asteroid,” stated Ron Ballouz, an OSIRIS-REx researcher based at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Ballouz and the research study team ran hundreds of computer simulations to deduce Bennus density and cohesion based on spacecraft images and velocity details. Engineers varied the surface area cohesion properties in each simulation up until they found the one that most carefully matched their real-life information.
This view of asteroid Bennu ejecting particles from its surface area on Jan. 19, 2019, was developed by integrating two images taken on board NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Other image processing strategies were also used, such as cropping and changing the brightness and contrast of each image. (Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin).
Now, this precise details about Bennus surface area can assist researchers much better interpret remote observations of other asteroids, which might be helpful in creating future asteroid objectives and for establishing approaches to protect Earth from asteroid crashes.
Its possible that asteroids like Bennu– barely held together by gravity or electrostatic force– might break apart in Earths environment and therefore pose a various kind of threat than solid asteroids. “I think were still at the start of comprehending what these bodies are, due to the fact that they behave in very counterproductive methods,” said Patrick Michel, an OSIRIS-REx scientist and director of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique at Côte dAzur Observatory in Nice, France.
References:.
” Spacecraft sample collection and subsurface excavation of asteroid (101955) Bennu” by D. S. Lauretta, C. D. Adam, A. J. Allen, R.-L. Ballouz, O. S. Barnouin, K. J. Becker, T. Becker, C. A. Bennett, E. B. Bierhaus, B. J. Bos, R. D. Burns, H. Campins, Y. Cho, P. R. Christensen, E. C. A. Church, B. E. Clark, H. C. Connolly, M. G. Daly, D. N. DellaGiustina, C. Y. Drouet dAubigny, J. P. Emery, H. L. Enos, S. Freund Kasper, J. B. Garvin, K. Getzandanner, D. R. Golish, V. E. Hamilton, C. W. Hergenrother, H. H. Kaplan, L. P. Keller, E. J. Lessac-Chenen, A. J. Liounis, H. Ma, L. K. McCarthy, B. D. Miller, M. C. Moreau, T. Morota, D. S. Nelson, J. O. Nolau, R. Olds, M. Pajola, J. Y. Pelgrift, A. T. Polit, M. A. Ravine, D. C. Reuter, B. Rizk, B. Rozitis, A. J. Ryan, E. M. Sahr, N. Sakatani, J. A. Seabrook, S. H. Selznick, M. A. Skeen, A. A. Simon, S. Sugita, K. J. Walsh, M. M. Westermann, C. W. V. Wolner and K. Yumoto, 7 July 2022, Science.DOI: 10.1126/ science.abm1018.
” Near-zero cohesion and loose packaging of Bennus near-subsurface exposed by spacecraft contact” by Kevin J. Walsh, Ronald-Louis Ballouz, Erica R. Jawin, Chrysa Avdellidou, Olivier S. Barnouin, Carina A. Bennett, Edward B. Bierhaus, Brent J. Bos, Saverio Cambioni, Harold C. Connolly, Marco Delbo, Daniella N. DellaGiustina, Joseph DeMartini, Joshua P. Emery, Dathon R. Golish, Patrick C. Haas, Carl W. Hergenrother, Huikang Ma, Patrick Michel, Michael C. Nolan, Ryan Olds, Benjamin Rozitis, Derek C. Richardson, Bashar Rizk, Andrew J. Ryan, Paul Sánchez, Daniel J. Scheeres, Stephen R. Schwartz, Sanford H. Selznick, Yun Zhang and Dante S. Lauretta, 7 July 2022, Science Advances.DOI: 10.1126/ sciadv.abm6229.
NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center offers total mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and objective guarantee for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the primary detective. The university leads the science group and the missions science observation preparation and information processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, developed the spacecraft and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for browsing the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASAs New Frontiers Program, managed by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the companys Science Mission Directorate Washington.
Side-by-side images from NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft of the robotic arm as it came down towards the surface of asteroid Bennu (left) and as it tapped it to stir up dust and rock for sample collection (right). The first surprise the asteroid provided was in December 2018, when NASAs spacecraft showed up at Bennu. The newest clue that Bennu was not what it appeared came after the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft chose up a sample and beamed sensational, close-up images of the asteroids surface area to Earth. Near-Earth asteroid Bennu is a rubble pile of stones and rocks left over from the formation of the solar system. During this occasion the spacecrafts arm sank far deeper into the asteroid than expected, confirming that Bennus surface is loosely bound.
” Our expectations about the asteroids surface were totally incorrect.”– Dante Lauretta, primary investigator of OSIRIS-REx