Asteroid NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission landed on had a surface like a ‘pit of plastic balls’
Almost two years ago, NASA entered the story when its Osiris-Rex spaceship briefly “tagged” 101955 Bennu to collect a sample of regolith on the surface of the asteroid. Although the mission does not come back to Earth before the end of next year, NASA has shared new information on the celestial body. In an update published this week (via Mashable), the agency revealed that Osiris-Rex would have sunk to Bennu if the spaceship had not immediately drawn its propellants after touching the surface of the asteroid.
“It turns out that the particles constituting the exterior of Bennu are so vaguely packed and slightly linked to each other only if a person went on Bennu, they would feel very little resistance, as if he entered a tank of balls plastic that is a popular game. Areas for children, “said NASA.This is not what scientists thought they were finding on Bennu. By observing the asteroid of the earth, the wait was that its surface would be covered with smooth material and beach -shaped sand. Bennu’s reaction to the touch of Osiris-Rex also had perplexed scientists. After having briefly interacted with the asteroid, the spacecraft left a 26 -foot (8 meters) crater. During laboratory tests, the collection procedure “barely made a divot”.
After analyzing the data from the spaceship, they found that he met the same amount of resistance as a person on earth would feel while tightening the piston on a French press coffee carafe. “As we shot our propellers to leave the surface, we were still in the asteroid,” said Ron Ballouz, a scientist from the Osiris-Rex team.
According to NASA, its results on Bennu could help scientists better interpret the remote observations of other asteroids. In turn, this could help the agency design future asteroid missions. “I think we are always at the beginning of understanding what these bodies are, because they behave in a very counter-intuitive way,” said Patrick Michel, member of the Osiris-Rex team.
