Member LoginMember Login - User registration - Setup as front page - Add to favorites - Sitemap NASA's final tally shows spacecraft returned double the amount of asteroid rubble !

NASA's final tally shows spacecraft returned double the amount of asteroid rubble

Time:2024-05-01 02:35:28 source:World Wander news portal

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA finally has counted up all the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft last fall — and it’s double the rubble return goal.

Officials reported Thursday that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 121.6 grams (4.29 ounces) of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. That’s just over half a cup and the biggest cosmic haul ever from beyond the moon.

It took NASA longer than expected to pry open the sample container because of stuck fasteners.

The black, carbon-rich samples — the first ever collected from an asteroid by NASA — are stored at a special curation lab at Houston’s Johnson Space Center.

Osiris-Rex returned the samples last September, three years after gathering them from the asteroid. The haul for the $1 billion mission would have been greater, but rocks jammed the lid of the container following the grab and some samples floated away.

Related information
  • Jessica Alba turns 43! The Sin City actress poses with her mini
  • Ashley Roberts puts on a leggy display in a tiny mini
  • ESTHER RANTZEN: I asked Mail readers to help me plan my funeral. Your choices
  • I'm a gardening expert
  • Former teacher at New Hampshire youth detention center testifies about bruised teens
  • San Bernardino police arrest teen for murder of 14
  • JENNI MURRAY: The Cass Report is a voice of reason on trans dogma that must not be ignored
  • This Might Not Be It review: Behind the Perspex partition
Recommended content
  • I was single for six years because I'm too hot to date and men are 'scared off' by my good looks
  • Rustle these up with Rosemary: Chocolate fondants 
  • James, Earl of Wessex, 16, stands shoulder
  • Signs of sharp wit! These funny notices left customers in fits of laughter
  • Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray starts Game 5 against Lakers despite strained left calf
  • I refused to accept my neighbour's parcel