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Stunning new NASA footage shows probe landing on ‘doomsday asteroid’ Bennu to bring home alien sample
NASA has released new footage of its daring mission to land a probe on 'doomsday asteroid' Bennu and collect an alien sample.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft touched down on the near-Earth asteroid on Tuesday evening and could soon fly the rubble it collected back to Earth.
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That sample wouldn't reach us until 2023 but, until then, scientists have the amazing video they captured to analyse.
The video shows the space probe touching down and its robot arm crushing some rock on Bennu's surface.
A nitrogen gas bottle was fired on the surface to cause a "rubble shower".
This rubble was collected by the spacecraft for five seconds before it backed away.
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The OSIRIS-REx probe is said to be in good shape and is now orbiting Bennu once more.
It was able to send data and images back to Earth shortly after the mission.
Due to an 18.5 minute communication delay with Earth, the space probe relied on commands set ahead of time.
It landed just three feet from its targeted location.
We probably won't know until the weekend how big the asteroid sample is.
The desired amount is 60g, which is about the size of a chocolate bar.
Cameras will determine if the sample is good enough and, if it is, the space probe will start heading back to Earth in March 2021 after further analysis has been conducted.
If the sample isn't good enough, Nasa will aim to take another one.
It's hoped that the any dirt collected will help with future research into our solar system – including how to potentially prevent an asteroid crashing into Earth.
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Any materials collected could help unlock secrets into how our solar system was formed 4.5 billion years ago.
Last December, scientists selected the sample site known as Nightingale – a fairly smooth patch on what is an asteroid strewn with boulders.
Measuring roughly 20 feet wide and is the size of an SUV, OSIRIS-REX was tasked with navigating a target site of just 26 feet in diameter.
The touchdown happened over 200 million miles away from Earth.
Bennu itself is travelling through space at a speed of 63,000 miles per hour.
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The researchers relied on high resolution mapping that has been done around Bennu since a spacecraft began to orbit it back in 2018.
It's hoped that their work will fill in crucial gaps in our understanding of asteroids.
Nasa claims Bennu hosts ingredients that we know are essential for life on Earth.
It : "One of the papers, led by Amy Simon from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, shows that carbon-bearing, organic material is widespread on the asteroid’s surface, including at the mission’s primary sample site, Nightingale, where OSIRIS-REx will make its first sample collection attempt on October 20.
"These findings indicate that hydrated minerals and organic material will likely be present in the collected sample.
"This organic matter may contain carbon in a form often found in biology or in compounds associated with biology.
"Scientists are planning detailed experiments on these organic molecules and expect that the returned sample will help answer complex questions about the origins of water and life on Earth."
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There is a theory that life on Earth started because of an asteroid impact bringing water and the right organic molecules.
There's also slight concern that an asteroid like Bennu could end lives on Earth.
Bennu is a possible security risk for our planet as there's a 1 in 2,700 chance it could collide with us in the 2100s.
This may be a slim chance but it makes studying the asteroid even more important.
Bright 'veins' on the asteroid's boulders are also being used to suggest Bennu formed when a larger watery asteroid was smashed into and broken up.
The water could have created the veins and left behind the patterns we can still see today.
Bennu – the key facts
Here's what you need to know
- 101955 Bennu is a large asteroid that was first discovered on September 11, 1999
- It's official designated as a "potentially hazardous object", because it could one day hit Earth
- Space scientists say it has a 1-in-2,700 change of impacting Earth between 2175 and 2199
- It's named after the Bennu, an Ancient Egyptian mythological bird associated with the Sun
- The asteroid has an approximate diameter of 1,614 feet
- Bennu is the target of the ongoing Osiris-Rex mission, which is designed to return samples from the asteroid to Earth in 2023
- The Osiris-Rex spacecraft arrived at Bennu on December 3, 2018 – following a two-year journey
- It will map out Bennu's surface and orbit the asteroid to calculate its mass
- An asteroid of Bennu's size can be expected to hit Earth approximately once every 100,000 to 130,000 years
- Bennu will make a close approach (460,000 miles) to Earth on September 23, 2060
Most read in Science
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