OSIRIS-REx's Final Haul: 121.6 Grams From Asteroid Bennu (universetoday.com) 17
According to NASA, the OSIRIS-REx mission has successfully collected 121.6 grams, or almost 4.3 ounces, of rock and dust from the asteroid Bennu. Universe Today reports: These samples have been a long time coming. The OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) was approved by NASA back in 2011 and launched in September 2016. It reached its target, the carbonaceous Apollo group asteroid 101955 Bennu, in December 2018. After spending months studying the asteroid and reconnoitring for a suitable sampling location, it selected one in December 2019. After two sampling rehearsals, the spacecraft gathered its sample on October 20th, 2020. In September 2023, the sample finally returned to Earth.
For OSIRIS-REx to be successful, it had to collect at least 60 grams of material. With a final total that is double that, it should open up more research opportunities and allow more of the material to be held untouched for future research. NASA says they will preserve 70% of the sample for the future, including for future generations. The next step is for the material to be put into containers and sent to researchers. More than 200 researchers around the world will receive samples. Many of the samples will find their way to scientists at NASA and institutions in the US, while others will go to researchers at institutions associated with the Canadian Space Agency, JAXA, and other partner nations. Canada will receive 4% of the sample, the first time that Canada's scientific community will have direct access to a returned asteroid sample.
For OSIRIS-REx to be successful, it had to collect at least 60 grams of material. With a final total that is double that, it should open up more research opportunities and allow more of the material to be held untouched for future research. NASA says they will preserve 70% of the sample for the future, including for future generations. The next step is for the material to be put into containers and sent to researchers. More than 200 researchers around the world will receive samples. Many of the samples will find their way to scientists at NASA and institutions in the US, while others will go to researchers at institutions associated with the Canadian Space Agency, JAXA, and other partner nations. Canada will receive 4% of the sample, the first time that Canada's scientific community will have direct access to a returned asteroid sample.
$800M for 121g (Score:5, Funny)
121 grams for that cost -- we're approaching HP ink prices.
Re: (Score:3)
At least Bennu isn't forcing us into a subscription model.
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Slashdot need to extend the score count, this is the funniest post I have every read :)
HP doesn't have to worry about losing the title (Score:1)
The cost of space exploration is going down.
Heh? (Score:1)
Re:Heh? (Score:5, Informative)
Which range from 28.35 grams to 100 g, with most values around 30 g.
Then there's the fluid ounce [wikipedia.org], which weirdly enough is a measure of volume, not mass.
Honestly, I can't understand your confusion. [/sarcasm]
Re: Heh? (Score:2)
I mean
wut?
Re: Heh? (Score:2)
And I absolutely hate blunts. What a terrible way to smoke weed. But hell, if the drummer's passing it, I ain't gonna turn it away.
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NASA keeps hitting them out of the park (Score:5, Insightful)
Between the extraordinary longevity of the various Martian rovers, flying a drone in the thin veneer of a Martian atmosphere, not to mention two probes still working after nearly 50 years in space and on their way out of our solar system, now we have them collecting twice the minimum amount of sample they needed after navigating to an asteroid, collecting the sample, and returning it safely to Earth, NASA seems to have hit their stride. Let us hope these successess continue.
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If you check resent news you will find that the cause of that accident was political pressure.
If you give NASA money and leave them alone they do great things. Weird external pressure causes problems. The reality is that a lot of very smart people work in aerospace and mostly what holds them back are business and political issues. Get the MBAs and politicians out of the way and look what happens.
Boeing is a perfect example of what happens when the MBAs take over. Used to be a top aerospace company, now they
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Do they still fulfil NASA's criteria for being accepted as a contractor?
(Did they ever? Or was the question just never asked? Too awkward.)