Oct 26, 2023 13:25:00

Many of the samples that NASA brought back from the asteroid Bennu cannot be removed because the lids cannot be opened.

A capsule containing samples collected from the near-Earth asteroid

Bennu by NASA's space probe OSIRIS-REx in 2020 will be dropped on Earth on September 24, 2023 local time, and will be released by NASA. Recovered by. NASA reported that although a certain amount of samples have already been taken out of this capsule, many of them cannot be taken out because the lid of the container containing the sample cannot be opened.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx Achieves Sample Mass Milestone – OSIRIS-REx Mission
https://blogs.nasa.gov/osiris-rex/2023/10/20/nasas-osiris-rex-achieves-sample-mass-milestone/

Oh No! NASA Can't Seem to Get The Lid Off Its Priceless Asteroid Sample : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/oh-no-nasa-cant-seem-to-get-the-lid-off-its-priceless-asteroid-sample

NASA is locked out of its OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample because of 2 faulty fasteners | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/space/asteroids/nasa-is-locked-out-of-its-osiris-rex-asteroid-sample-because-of-2-faulty-fasteners

OSIRIS-REX is a space probe, also known as the ``American Hayabusa, '' and was developed to return samples from the asteroid Bennu. Osiris-Rex entered Bennu's orbit in 2018 and succeeded in collecting samples from Bennu's surface in 2020. The capsule containing the sample was dropped to Earth on September 24, 2023, and NASA safely recovered the capsule.

To collect samples from Bennu, a device called ``Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM)'' attached to the tip of Osiris Rex's robot arm was used. Osiris-Rex extends its robotic arm, and when TAGSAM makes contact with Bennu's surface, it injects nitrogen gas and traps the flying substances inside the container. You can see how Osiris Rex actually collects Bennu samples using TAGSAM by watching the video below.

OSIRIS-REx Sample Collection at Asteroid Bennu: SamCam View of TAGSAM - YouTube


The goal of this mission was to collect a total of 60g of samples, but because the amount of material thrown up by the nitrogen gas jet was larger than expected, the sample collected was estimated to reach 250g. The capsule is purged with an inert gas, nitrogen, to prevent contamination, and a glovebox must be used during sample collection to minimize contamination.

However, NASA reported in an Oct. 20 blog post that it found that two of the 35 fasteners on TAGSAM's sampler head could not be removed with tools approved for use in the Osiris-Rex glove box. Did.

Adding up what was already attached to the outside of the sampler head and what was removed using tweezers and a scope inserted through the gap in the sampler head, we have succeeded in recovering 70.3g of sample, which exceeds our initial goal. About. However, more than half of the sample is still trapped inside the sampler head, so NASA plans to move forward with developing new procedures to retrieve the remaining sample.

The photos below are some of the samples actually recovered from Osiris rex. NASA plans to provide 25% of the Bennu samples brought back by Osiris-Rex to more than 200 researchers at different research facilities, 4% to the Canadian Space Agency , and 0.5% to JAXA .

In addition, analysis of samples already collected from the capsule has revealed that they are rich in organic substances including carbon and water molecules, as well as compounds such as iron sulfide and iron oxide.

A forum related to this article has been set up on the GIGAZINE official Discord server. Anyone can write freely, so please feel free to comment!

• Discord | 'How do I open NASA's 'sample container with a lid that won't open'' | GIGAZINE
https://discord.com/channels/1037961069903216680/1167029732538322944