Now scientists have finally opened the dust and gravel container from asteroid Bennu

After a seven-year mission, a container of dust and gravel from the asteroid Bennu landed on Earth in September.

This was the first time NASA had brought home material from an asteroid. Japan has done it before.

The case was safely installed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. It is important that the sample is not contaminated with soil particles.

An external container was opened and the team collected just over a gram of material from the asteroid It was scattered over the cover.

However, the lid of the sample itself will not open.

It was to develop new tools

Two out of 35 concerts were suspended. The capsule containing the sample is placed in a sealed box with a flow of nitrogen to protect the sample from the Earth's atmosphere.

The box has holes the team can put their arms into, but there's a limit to the type of equipment the researchers can use, they say. Participation from NASA.

Since October, the team has been working on developing and testing new tools that can be used within the fund.

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In January, they were finally able to open the capsule.

Now NASA has a complete overview of how much material it got from asteroid Bennu.

OSIRIS-REx captured a total of 121.6 grams of dust and rocks. Space Agency reports. This is twice what is required for this task.

Here, preparations are made to pour the rest of the sample into the sample tray below. Image: Robert Markowitz/NASA

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I have benefited greatly

The sample is the largest ever collected from an asteroid in space, according to NASA.

70 grams were collected from the outside of the sample capsule and by carefully excavating the material from inside the capsule through a type of flap that could be pushed down. It was explained in Article from Science News.

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The rest, 50 grams, was secured when the lid was finally opened.

Portions of the material will be distributed to research teams around the world, who will examine the composition of the gravel and what it can tell us.

At least 70 percent of the sample will be stored at Johnson Space Center and preserved for the future.

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Remnants from the formation of the solar system

Bennu is a remnant from the time when the solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The sample allows scientists to go back to the time when planets formed and formed the basis of life on Earth.

Meteorites that fell to Earth also provide a lot of information, but they can change and become contaminated after they pass through the atmosphere and land on Earth. Often one also lacks context, where they are coming from, According to NASA.

The material from Bennu comes directly from space and scientists can study the stone in its completely untouched form.

(This issue It was first published in Forskning.no).