NASA Begins Analysis of Samples from One Asteroid as it Readies Launch to Another

NASA officials refer to this as Asteroid Autumn and they’re not kidding. Today they revealed the first samples that were just returned from the asteroid Bennu by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft while at the same time getting ready to launch the Psyche mission to a very different type of asteroid tomorrow. Those are just two of several asteroid missions in development, operations or analysis at the agency right now as scientists continue their quest to discover how the solar system — and life — formed.

Two weeks ago, OSIRIS-REx (O-REx) dropped off its sample return capsule at Earth after a 7-year journey to the asteroid Bennu. The capsule was taken to the astromaterials curation facility at Johnson Space Center where scientists are carefully extracting the 250 grams or so of dust and rocks that were collected.

They actually don’t know how much they have. Bennu turned out to be very different than expected. When O-REx lowered itself to the surface to scoop up loose dust and stones, the surface was so soft the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) penetrated as much as 24-48 centimeters (10-19 inches) into Bennu. The sample head became overfilled and some of the material started spilling back out into space.

That was in October 2020. They estimated they retrieved 250 grams, but have been waiting all this time to find out for sure.

Scientists excitedly began opening the Sample Return Capsule in the “glovebox” facility at JSC on September 25, but quickly determined they would have to wait a little bit longer to open the TAGSAM head. For a happy reason. The hatch is surrounded by excess Bennu material they need to collect first.

During a news conference at JSC and a later media telecon today, OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta from the University of Arizona was repeatedly asked how much material there is and he calmly explained again and again that no one wants that answer more than he does, but everyone must be patient.

Bennu is a remnant of the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. Studying the samples will help reveal the history of the solar system and perhaps life itself. The samples must remain pristine and that means taking all the necessary time to extract every particle for scientists to study not just now, but far into the future. “I’m practicing my patience,” said Lauretta, “because it’s about the integrity of the entire collection.”

Some material already was sent to the Carnegie Institution of Washington and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center for a “quick look” analysis. Bennu is composed of “water-bearing clay minerals” with “water locked inside their crystal structure,” Lauretta enthused.

“I want to stop and think about what that means. How we think about how water got to Earth. The reason that Earth is a habitable world, that we have oceans and lakes and rivers and rain, is because these clay minerals, minerals like the ones from Bennu, landed on Earth 4 billion years ago to 4.5 billion years ago to make our world habitable.”

Asked about OSIRIS-REx’s unusual name — Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer — Lauretta told the story of how he originally was the science lead for the mission and thought of four words “that captured the essence of asteroid exploration.”  Origins “because we’re interested in the origin of life.” Spectroscopy because “that is what happens when you take light and break it through a prism … and each color tells you about the minerals on the surface and by bringing a sample back we can tell if we got it right or not.” Resources because “I think about asteroid mining.” Security “because Bennu is a potentially hazardous asteroid.” Adding a “couple of vowels” he came up with OSIRIS. That was when Michael Drake was PI, but after he passed away in 2011 and Lauretta became PI, he thought a stronger name was needed and someone suggested adding REX as a joke. But then “I was like, that really sounds cool” so came with with “Regolith Explorer” and OSIRIS-REx “was born.”

Osiris is also the name of the first king of Egypt, which leads to the story of how Bennu got its name. The asteroid was designated 1999 RQ36 and in 2013 The Planetary Society along with the University of Arizona and MIT Lincoln Lab decided to hold a contest to get it a better name. The winner of the contest was Mike Puzio, then 9 years old, who recently recounted why he picked Bennu: “I recognized the name Osiris as an Egyptian deity, and I went on Wikipedia to look up what the whole deal with him was and any stories about him. One of them that stood out was his return to Earth as a Bennu or a heron, and I figured that would be fitting as the asteroid would be returning a sample to Earth.”

These are the first asteroid samples returned to Earth by NASA, but Japan was the first country to bring such samples here with Hayabusa and Hayabusa2. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shared those samples with NASA and is a partner, along with the Canadian Space Agency, examining the O-REx material. They will be the first to get samples of their own to analyze, but NASA will provide a catalog available to the broader international scientific community in about six months.

Asteroids are of great interest because they can help tell the story of the origin of the solar system and life here on Earth. NASA is getting ready to launch another mission to an asteroid tomorrow, Psyche, that will visit an asteroid by that name in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Of all the thousands of asteroids, Psyche is one of just nine composed primarily of metal, which also forms the core of Earth and other rocky planets. Psyche may provide clues to the formation of planets like Earth, though Principal Investigator Linda Elkins-Tanton from Arizona State University (ASU) is the first to admit they really don’t know what they may find when the spacecraft reaches its destination in 2029. She told reporters yesterday that data from telescopes and radars on Earth show that it’s shaped like a potato, the size of Massachusetts without Cape Cod, and has a high density suggestive of metal, but “we don’t know and that is really the excitement of this.”

Psyche is scheduled for launch at 10:16 am EDT tomorrow (Thursday), although the weather is only 20 percent favorable. The launch window is open until October 25, with launch opportunities each day. [UPDATE: The launch was rescheduled for October 13 at 10:10 am EDT.]