A few days ago, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully touched down on asteroid Bennu to collect rock and dust samples. The collection head filled beyond capacity, preventing full closure and allowing material to escape into space.
You may have heard: On October 21, four years after launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the U.S. probe OSIRIS-REx made contact with Bennu, over 330 million kilometers from Earth. The goal was to collect at least 60 grams of samples for return to our planet. The spacecraft spiraled gently toward the surface before "kissing" it for about six seconds, activating its sample collection system.
During this brief touch-and-go, OSIRIS-REx released a burst of nitrogen gas to disturb Bennu's surface, drawing material into the sampler head. At such vast distance—over 300 million kilometers—NASA waited days for confirmation of success.
Recent NASA updates confirm OSIRIS-REx gathered far more than anticipated—several hundred grams. The sampler penetrated 48 centimeters into Bennu's surface with unexpected force, jamming rocks in the lid's edge.
Result: Some material escaped into space. Yet NASA views this as a resounding success, focusing on the half-full glass. Exact yield remains unknown until Earth return, as escaping samples prompted skipping the weigh-in and sealing them directly for protection.
OSIRIS-REx will depart Bennu next March, targeting Earth return on September 24, 2023, parachuting samples into Utah's desert. These pristine materials, untouched for 4.6 billion years, will unlock Solar System origins and potential life-building ingredients by global scientists.
Meanwhile, Japan's Hayabusa2 recently sampled Ryugu and is set to land in Australia on December 6.
