The team OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) at NASA has acquired a handful of dust and rock from the asteroid Bennu. It is a huge leap towards understanding the origin of life hence, the NASA team responsible has done a huge feat!

On Sunday, the capsule containing the rocks and dust landed in a specific area belonging to the Department of Defense in Utah! It is a Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City, where the explorer landed at 8:52 a.m. MDT.

The sample is said to be 250 grams or 8.8 ounces, which has been inside a canister and is yet to be opened. It will be taken to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston by aircraft on 25 September! The canister will be disassembled. Thus, the sample will be extracted and weighed.

The capsule has been transferred to a clean room by helicopter, and the room has been set up on the training range in a hangar. A continuous nitrogen source, basically a “nitrogen purge,” is supplied to the explorer, which will keep the capsule pure for further analysis.

Nitrogen gas is known to not react to other gases, so it is one of the safest options! It also helps keep any contamination out. Hence, it is one of the most critical tasks for the scientific teams.

From the asteroid, Bennu has been a target for evaluating the origin of water and organics on Earth that has led to the growth of life! There are chances of potential hazards from asteroids. Hence, it is important to be aware of the impact and the influence of the asteroid on human life.

This is for the benefit of all humanity, especially when the asteroid might have answers justifying the existence of life on Earth. The asteroid Bennu can help get answers as it contributes to making discoveries about humankind, other lives on others, and the formation of planets and solar systems.

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