Does this discovery that asteroids might be squishy have implications toward mining them?
Quote from: redliox on 07/09/2022 08:27 amDoes this discovery that asteroids might be squishy have implications toward mining them?Definitely yes: we'll not need pickaxes or explosives to grab material from such asteroids: we will just need to attach a small rocket to a piece of rock to get it to the mothership. Problem will be how to walk on such a surface while looking for the "right rock" to send to Earth. It will be like diving in a ball pit some meters deep.
Mind blown! I’m at Astronomy on Tap where Humberto Campins is discussing the OSORIS-REx mission. He said when the spacecraft touched the asteroid, there was ZERO resistance. If the spacecraft hadn’t burned its thrusters it would’ve flown *into* the asteroid deep underground.
He said the coefficient of friction that they measured for the regolith on asteroid Bennu was ZERO. Zero friction sand and gravel. 🤯It’s an effect of low gravity.
LIVE: Our @NASASolarSystem OSIRIS-REx mission will return an asteroid sample collected in space – a NASA first. Hear from mission experts and learn about the logistics of the journey #ToBennuAndBack.
Queen legend Brian May helped NASA ace its asteroid-sampling mission, new book revealsBy Tereza Pultarova published 1 day agoAsteroid Bennu proved a trickster for NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid explorer, rewriting everything scientists had thought about space rocks.Queen guitarist Brian May and Dante Lauretta, the chief scientist of NASA's asteroid-sampling OSIRIS-REx mission, have collaborated on a book about the asteroid Bennu — and it's not a PR stunt.
LIVE: Our @NASASolarSystem OSIRIS-REx mission will return an asteroid sample collected in space – a NASA first. Hear from mission experts and learn about the logistics of the journey #ToBennuAndBack. https://youtube.com/watch?v=_q-KQVeDsbc
Scheduled for Aug 30, 2023Experts from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer) mission give an overview on the asteroid sample capsule’s landing and recovery plans set for Sept. 24, 2023.News conference participants are:• Melissa Morris, OSIRIS-REx program executive, NASA Headquarters, Washington• Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator, University of Arizona, Tucson• Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland• Sandra Freund, OSIRIS-REx program manager, Lockheed Martin, Littleton, Colorado• Kevin Righter, OSIRIS-REx deputy curation lead, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, HoustonOn Sept. 24, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will approach Earth and release its sample return capsule into the atmosphere on a path to land at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. The event makes it the first U.S. asteroid sample return.The touchdown will mark the end of a seven-year journey to explore asteroid Bennu, collect a sample from its surface, and deliver it to Earth for study. Scientists around the world will study the sample over the coming decades to learn about how our planet and solar system formed, as well as the origin of organics that may have led to life on Earth.All about the mission: https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex
Aug 30, 2023RELEASE 23-096NASA Completes Last OSIRIS-REx Test Before Asteroid Sample DeliveryA team led by NASA in Utah’s West Desert is in the final stages of preparing for the arrival of the first U.S. asteroid sample – slated to land on Earth in September.A mockup of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer) sample capsule was dropped Wednesday from an aircraft and landed at the drop zone at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range in the desert outside Salt Lake City. This was part of the mission’s final major test prior to arrival of the actual capsule on Sept. 24 with its sample of asteroid Bennu, collected in space almost three years ago.“We are now mere weeks away from receiving a piece of solar system history on Earth, and this successful drop test ensures we’re ready,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “Pristine material from asteroid Bennu will help shed light on the formation of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago, and perhaps even on how life on Earth began.”This drop test follows a series of earlier rehearsals – capsule recovery, spacecraft engineering operations, and sample curation procedures – conducted earlier this spring and summer.Now, with less than four weeks until the spacecraft’s arrival, the OSIRIS-REx team is nearing the end of rehearsals and ready for the actual delivery."I am immensely proud of the efforts our team has poured into this endeavor,” said Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona, Tucson. “Just as our meticulous planning and rehearsal prepared us to collect a sample from Bennu, we have honed our skills for sample recovery.”The capsule is carrying an estimated 8.8 ounces of rocky material collected from the surface of the asteroid Bennu in 2020. Researchers will study the sample in the coming years to learn about how our planet and solar system formed, as well as the origin of organics that may have led to life on Earth.The capsule will enter Earth’s atmosphere at 8:42 a.m. MDT (10:42 a.m. EDT), traveling about 27,650 mph. NASA’s live coverage of the capsule landing starts at 10 a.m. EDT (8 a.m. MDT), and will air on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.“We are now in the final leg of this seven-year journey, and it feels very much like the last few miles of a marathon, with a confluence of emotions like pride and joy coexisting with a determined focus to complete the race well,” said Rich Burns, project manager for OSIRIS-REx at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.Once located and packaged for travel, the capsule will be flown to a temporary clean room on the military range, where it will undergo initial processing and disassembly in preparation for its journey by aircraft to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the sample will be documented, cared for, and distributed for analysis to scientists worldwide.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator. The university leads the science team and the mission's science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Curation for OSIRIS-REx, including processing the sample when it arrives on Earth, will take place at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. International partnerships on this mission include the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter instrument from CSA (the Canadian Space Agency) and asteroid sample science collaboration with JAXA’s (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa2 mission. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.To learn more about the asteroid sample recovery mission visit:https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex-end-Karen Fox / Alana JohnsonHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1275 / 202-358-1501Rani Gran / Rob GarnerNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.301-332-6975 / 301-286-5687Last Updated: Aug 30, 2023Editor: Abbey DonaldsonTags: OSIRIS-REx (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer), Solar System
A training model of the sample return capsule is seen is seen during a drop test in preparation for the retrieval of the sample return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was collected from asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and will return to Earth on September 24th, landing under parachute at the Utah Test and Training Range.Credits: NASA/Keegan Barber
OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission. It launched in September 2016 on a journey to explore a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu. The mission’s thrilling finale will take place on September 24, 2023, as a capsule containing the Bennu samples touches down in Utah’s West Desert.Credits: NASA
Oct 2, 2008The following movie was taken from a NASA DC-8 aircraft as the Stardust sample return capsule entered the atmosphere in the early morning hours of Jan. 15, 2006. At the time this video was shot, the DC-8 was flying at the eastern edge of the Nevada state line. The Stardust sample return capsule had a soft landing in the US Air Force's Utah Test and Training Range at 3:10 am MST
On Sept. 24, OSIRIS-REx's sample return capsule, full of surface material from Bennu, will land at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.Justin Davenport (@Bubbinski) recently traveled to Dugway, where NASA was conducting final tests ahead of the landing. ⬇️
