Initial analysis of Bennu asteroid samples that NASA brought to Earth earlier this year revealed some interesting results. Bennu was already known to be rich in carbon and water, but new analysis of the samples has scientists scratching their heads.
According to the post shared by Nature, scientists working with new samples from Bennu were particularly surprised by the amount of magnesium, sodium, and phosphate present in the crust of the lumps taken from Bennu. This is a composition rarely seen in meteorites, and scientists are a bit perplexed.
Scientists aren’t quite sure what to make of these Bennu samples, and much work still needs to be done to fully analyze them. First of all, the core of the material inside OSIRIS-REx’s sample return canister is not yet accessible.
NASA is currently creating a special screwdriver that will allow scientists to remove the last screw that closes that part of the canister. This will give us access to the full range of Bennu samples collected several years ago. But for now, there is plenty of debris captured outside the vessel, including a giant 3.5-centimetre-long rock, the largest ever collected at Bennu.
This particular stone actually interfered with the spacecraft’s collection mechanism when it was sucked in. It’s a dark color, almost black, Nature It has been reported to have a bluish sheen. Scientists say it is very similar to rocks found on the surface of asteroids.
Other clumps captured by the spacecraft are bright in color but remain puzzling to scientists working on their analysis. To date, astronomers and curators have cataloged more than 1,000 Bennu samples, according to the report. And this is only counting things that are at least 0.5 millimeters in size.