Back in 2020, NASA despatched a small spacecraft often known as OSIRIS-REx to gather samples from the asteroid Bennu. Bennu is among the most well-known neighboring asteroids to our planet. When OSIRIS-REx went to the touch down on Bennu, although, one thing sudden occur.
Asteroid Bennu simply left NASA scientists reeling
NASA had anticipated its touch-and-go mission on Bennu to go away the asteroid fully unphased. If something, a small indent would have been leftover the place it touched down. A footprint within the sand, so to talk. However, that isn’t what occurred. Instead, when OSIRIS-REx made contact with the asteroid Bennu, pebbles and particles exploded off the floor of the asteroid.
The ensuing explosion of particles left scientists baffled when the footage was beamed again to Earth. After all, OSIRIS-REx had are available slowly, touching down on the asteroid fastidiously. Additionally, many believed that the particles that makes up Bennu was tightly packed.
This ought to have made the floor extra like strong floor. Instead, evidently the floor of the asteroid Bennu is made from loosely packed particles, extra akin to a ball pit that kids play in.
Understanding extra concerning the asteroid
While the outcomes of the mission to the asteroid Bennu have been surprising, it did reveal extra concerning the asteroid. Scientists beforehand believed that cohesion held Bennu’s floor collectively. Cohesion performs a big function in lots of issues inside our universe. It’s what holds particles of wheat and different powders collectively in clumps. It even holds water collectively in house.
Instead of cohesion, although, Bennu’s floor seems to be held collectively by microgravity. In reality, the gravitational pull on Bennu is so low that they estimate it to be lower than 100,000th the pull of Earth. For extra context, gravity on the Moon is barely 16 % of that on Earth. So, on Bennu, the pull of gravity could be 16,000 instances weaker than that of the Moon.
Using the information that OSIRIS-REx captured, scientists have been capable of recreate the spacecraft’s descent and sampling of the asteroid Bennu. Upon returning, they discovered the spacecraft had left behind an enormous crater. The touch-and-go mission kicked up a lot materials, it had fallen right into a round sample across the crater.
The outcomes of this mission are extraordinary. And they solely proceed to go away scientists reeling as they work to check the asteroid Bennu extra in-depth. Researchers printed a paper on the findings within the journal Science Advances this month. This was, after all, simply one in every of many ways in which Bennu has defied our expectations.
Source: bgr.com