NASA grabbed a bunch of space rock material, and that’s awesome

• NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully touched down on the asteroid called Benny last week, and we now know that it grabbed enough material to consider that operation a success.
• The sample will now be stowed away for the trip back to Earth.
• It will be a couple of years before the spacecraft makes it back to our planet.

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Last week, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft pulled off a feat that it had never attempted before. After spending months orbiting the space rock known as Bennu, the probe touched down on the asteroid and attempted to snatch a sample of its material. Now, several days later, we finally know how much materially the probe managed to grab.

NASA knew that OSIRIS-REx did what it was designed to do, by dipping down to the asteroid's surface and shooting a jet of gas to kick up a bunch of loose material and then grab it with a collection mechanism. However, they weren't sure exactly how much material was gathered, and we were told we'd have to wait days or perhaps a week to find that out.

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NASA grabbed a bunch of space rock material, and that’s awesome originally appeared on BGR.com on Mon, 26 Oct 2020 at 19:34:21 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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