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.
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.
"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."
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
In other space news, Nasa and Nokia are building a 4G network on the Moon.
The Orionid meteor shower reaches its peak this week.
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And, a Nasa rocket launched to the Moon in 1966 has hurtled back into view from Earth, according to scientists.
What are your thoughts on the asteroid Bennu mission? Let us know in the comments...
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