A massive asteroid the size of the Empire State Building could hit Earth in 159 years, and NASA scientists will get their first close-up look at a piece of it this weekend.
The near-Earth object, called Bennu, has been the focus of research by NASA – and the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) spacecraft – since the asteroid’s discovery in 1999, NASA said.
On Sunday, the first asteroid sample collected in space by OSIRIS-REx will make a controlled landing on Earth, the space agency announced.
To successfully deliver the rock sample, spacecraft operators “will need to ensure that OSIRIS-REx is traveling at the right speed and direction to release the sample capsule into the atmosphere, landing it at the US Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range,” according to the statement. OUR.
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The capsule will hurtle toward Earth at a speed of 28,000 miles per hour, but its speed will be slowed by parachutes, Earth.com reports. It was planned to land in the Great Salt Lake desert in Utah, the scientific paper reported.
NASA will broadcast the event live at 10 a.m. ET on NASA TV, the NASA app and the agency’s website.
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Studying Bennu is imperative because the asteroid has little chance of eventually hitting Earth. NASA said that “new work by the OSIRIS-REx science team gives Benn a [one-in-2,700] probability of hitting Earth on September 24, 2182.”
He previously had “three close encounters [with Earth] in 1999, 2005 and 2011,” the newspaper writes.
Bennu’s rocks and dust will also give scientists an understanding of how the solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago, NASA said.
The space agency first launched OSIRIS-REx in September 2016 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and it reached Bennu in 2018.
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In 2021, the spacecraft began its long journey back to Earth after spending years collecting soil samples from asteroids.
After touching down on Sunday, the rock sample will make another trip — to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the material will be stored, according to Space.com.
OSIRIS-REx, meanwhile, will continue a second mission to another asteroid – Apophis – which was once thought to pose a threat to Earth.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education