NASA’s spacecraft starts home journey with asteroid rubble

NASA’s spacecraft is coming to earth, it has started the journey of returning home on Monday. The journey will take two years for the robotic prospector, Osiris-Rex.

In 2018 the Osiris-Rex reached asteroid Bennu and it spent two years of flying out there, before collecting rubble from the surface last fall. The spacecraft has around 1 pound or half pound of f mostly bite-size chunks, says University of Arizona’s Dante Lauretta, the principal scientist.

NASA

Since the Apollo moon rocks, this is going to be the largest cosmic haul for the US. Meanwhile NASA has returned comet dust and solar wind samples, this is the first time it’s gone after pieces of an asteroid.

AS of now Japan has completed it two times but in a very tiny amount. Scientists described Monday’s departure from Bennu’s neighbourhood as bittersweet. 

Also read: China launches core module of its space station

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