“The surface was smooth and flowing like a fluid.”
Big surprise
The original mission of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was to fly to the asteroid Bennu, where it was to land briefly on the presumably rocky surface of the body, collect a small sample, and return home.
But even though most of the mission went miraculously as planned, there was a big surprise along the way.
When OSIRIS-REx tried to touch Bennu in 2020, it surprisingly sank to the asteroid’s quicksand-like surface, resembling a “plastic ball pose” for kids in a new update. of NASA, causing a dazzling explosion of celestial matter.
Now, mission researchers finally believe they know why, as detailed in a couple of new articles published this week.
“We expected the surface to be quite stiff, as if you were touching a pile of gravel – some dust taking off and a few particles jumping,” Dante Lauretta, lead author of one of the studios and principal investigator. of the OSIRIS-RE mission, he told Space.com. “But while we were carrying the images after the event, we were surprised.”
“Clearly there was no resistance,” he added. “The surface was smooth and flowing like a fluid.”
Space fluff
The result was so startling, in fact, that investigators sent the boat to Bennu six months later. Images collected at the second mission showed that OSIRIS-REx had left a 65-foot-wide impact crater, called “Nightingale,” in its path.
According to a NASA statement, researchers believe the secret to Bennu’s unexpected fluff is in its mass. The particles that make up the planet’s surface are both packaged and lightly bound, which means that while it looks solid, there’s actually a lot of empty space.
As a result, NASA says entering the planet looks like it would “enter a well of plastic balls.” Yes, like those at your local Chuck E. Cheese.
The research is exciting, though frankly, it’s also a little stressful. Because Bennu stays together with so little force, an impact with Earth would probably break the asteroid within the atmosphere of our pale blue dot, according to researchers, a very different type of danger compared to a col. Injury with a hard celestial body.
READ MORE: A spectacular sampling shows that the asteroid Bennu is nothing as scientists expected [Space.org]
Learn more about NASA’s breakthroughs: Here’s what to expect from the first images of James Webb