Bennu - a new era in space exploration + Swarm of 10,000 black holes migrated

[Yazata]

Osiris-Rex just touched Bennu with its sampling tool.

They just wrapped up a news conference on nasa-live. They still don't know how large a sample they got. Something that surprised them was that the rocks they touched crushed easily. They weren't like Earth rocks at all. Just dust grains kind of clumped together to resemble rocks but seemingly not cemented together very well.

https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

A little instant video

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xj0O-fLSV7c

Recording of the news conference should be here

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/QKI0QRb8LVo

[Yazata]

Here's a cool little video showing nasa punching asteroids

https://www.asteroidmission.org/navcam2_...small_gif/

[Yazata]

We may have forgotten it three years ago, but Osiris-Rex is bringing back asteroid samples from Bennu. Its little reentry capsule is due to arrive in Utah tomorrow, Sunday Sept 24, 2023. Scientists will finally learn what the composition is of those weird powdery crushable rocks on its surface.

https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-...le-landing

Live coverage will start on nasa-live at 7 AM PDT/10AM EDT. There will be a post-landing press conference at 5 PM EDT, which will also be on nasa-live.

https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

[Yazata]

The capsule has successfully landed!

The recovery operation is underway and four helicopters are en-route.

Edit: First helicopter has landed nearby

Edit: recovery team is at the surprisingly small capsule (about 3-4 feet across)

[C C]

NASA Is Struggling to Open Its Asteroid Sample Container
https://gizmodo.com/nasa-struggling-open...1850951047

EXCERPT: For the past week, the curation team for the OSIRIS-REx mission has been having a hard time opening the TAGSAM head, a round sampler head at the end of an articulated arm on the spacecraft that was used to grab the sample from the asteroid. The TAGSAM head (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) is where the bulk of the asteroid sample is, and it is therefore being carefully handled by members of the team through a specialized glovebox under the flow of nitrogen to prevent contamination.

“After multiple attempts at removal, the team discovered two of the 35 fasteners on the TAGSAM head could not be removed with the current tools approved for use in the OSIRIS-REx glovebox,” NASA wrote in a blog post on Friday. “The team has been working to develop and implement new approaches to extract the material inside the head, while continuing to keep the sample safe and pristine.” (MORE - missing details)