Interesting Facts From NASA's Landing Mission On The Bennu Asteroid

Asteroid Bennu (NASA)

JAKARTA - Recently, the NASA spacecraft, Osiris-Rex, has successfully landed on the largest asteroid Bennu. Its mission is to take dust and rock samples for research on Earth.

The asteroid is quite large, but when squeezed by Earth and Mars, it will appear small. NASA claims that these samples can reveal the secrets of life around space exploration and the Solar System.

After landing on the Bennu Asteroid, NASA also shared some of their activities through a stunning image.

TAG! We're it! Just released: new @OSIRISREx views from yesterday as our spacecraft touched the surface of asteroid Bennu for about six seconds, and used its robotic arm to attempt to collect a sample of rocks & dust: https://t.co/s4WUCt26bX#ToBennuAndBack pic.twitter.com/dPL00ZvlxY

- NASA (@NASA) October 21, 2020

However, the big question is, why should it be Asteroid Bennu? What makes it so special compared to other asteroids? And since when was this mission held? The following VOI summarizes interesting facts from the mission and this Bennu Asteroid, quoted from CNET, Thursday, October 22.

1. When Did This Mission Begin?

The Osiris-Rex trip had actually been conceptualized and submitted to NASA since 2004. After a decade of development, finally the good news came with the launch of the spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on September 8, 2016 aboard the Atlas V Rocket from United Launch Alliance.

Then, the Osiris-Rex plane continued its next journey for 26 months to Asteroid Bennu, and officially landed on December 3, 2018.

2. Asteroid Bennu As a Window to the Past of the Solar System

NASA dubbed the asteroid a pile of debris that formed in the deep cosmic past, when gravity was slowly piecing together the remnants of an ancient collision.

The Bennu asteroid is also considered a window into the solar system's past. This is because in the asteroid's body there is carbon which carries the materials that make up planets and life. Bennu is known to have had an impact on Earth in the late 22nd century.

See the video from yesterday's TAG event - NASA's first asteroid sample collection attempt! Tune in TODAY at 5 pm EDT here: https://t.co/Sja14xcQ3o pic.twitter.com/iqP6I3Kzw0

- NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) October 21, 2020

3. Touch-And-Go Working System

The Osiris-Rex plane was scheduled to land at a location called the Nightingle on the Bennu Asteroid at the time the concept was created. The Osiris-Rex is equipped with three nitrogen tubes which are used to release high pressure gas to the surface of Bennu.

Later, there will be dust that appears which is then captured by Osiris-Rex and brought back to Earth. The work system is called Touch-And-Go (TAG).

4. Osiris-Rex is scheduled to be on the Bennu asteroid until the end of 2020

If on schedule, the Osiris-Rex aircraft will remain on the Bennu Asteroid until the end of 2020. Next, it will maneuver its departure next year and begin a two-year return journey to Earth.

5. Japan Had The Same Mission

Asteroid 25143 Itokawa was explored by the Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa. This space vehicle lashed small, rock-like grains from the asteroid in 2010 to Earth.

After a few years, the Hayabusa-2 aircraft then fired a special copper bullet at the big asteroid Ryugu in 2019 and took several shrapnel. The sample is currently on its way back to Earth.