Photo: NASA
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Carrying Asteroid Samples Begins Return Trip To Earth
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which collected the dust samples of an asteroid 320 million km from Earth, has started its return-journey on May 11. First launched in 2016, the $800 million spacecraft had found traces of hydrogen and oxygen molecules in asteroid 'Bennu' in 2018. While the NASA mission is expected to reach Earth in two years, currently Japan is the only country to have retrieved asteroid samples back home.
Tags: NASA, Osiris-Rex, Bennu Asteroid, Earth
Courtesy: The Hindu
Photo : Universe Today
Study Claims Asteroid Bennu is Hollow and Capable of Fitting Two Football Fields Inside
A new study by Colorado University has stated that the soft and crumbling surface of asteroid 'Bennu' is hollow beneath the surface. Interestingly, the void space is big enough to fit two football fields. Lead researcher Daniel Scheeres, while studying Bennu's gravity and material composition, observed the bits of rock escaping the asteroid and causing its constituents to scatter into space. Scheeres added that in a million years, this could… read-more
Tags: NASA, Asteroid Bennu, Osiris-Rex
Courtesy: Business Insider
