NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has finally landed, bringing the first samples from the asteroid Bennu to scientists on Earth.
is to break open the capsule and then inspect the samples. NASA expects to be able to provide a different analysis of the samples on October 11, a few weeks from now. This is an exciting moment that has definitely left some people feeling uneasy. This marks one of just a few times that we have procured something from a space-born entity and then carried it down to Earth.
The possibility of what might be waiting in that sample is both exciting and a bit terrifying – as we have no idea what kind of ancient organisms or bacteria might have survived on Bennu, waiting to be returned to oxygen, where they might flourish again. That’s why NASA is taking extra security measures when dealing with the Bennu sample return provided by OSIRIS-REx, a procedure it intends to continue with its
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