![]() PICA was first flown on NASA’s Stardust mission, which also delivered extraterrestrial material to Earth – from a comet. The heat shield thermal protection system (TPS) is made of a material developed at Ames: phenolic-impregnated carbon ablator (PICA). Three-quarters of it will be made available for study over the coming decades, while the remaining 25% may be distributed to researchers in efficient ways that let them address the mission’s scientific questions. Sandford’s sample curation work helped plan how the unique material from Bennu will be used. Sandford also leads the effort to analyze many components of the sample return capsule, both to assess potential sources of contamination in the samples and to assess the performance of the capsule. Sandford will coordinate a group of scientists in labs around the world to analyze the air filter after its return to Earth. If that’s happening, scientists could identify some components of Bennu. It will keep earthly contaminants out of the sample and, if the asteroid material is releasing any gases, the filter will trap them. The canister’s air filter was tested in Sandford’s lab before the mission launched. A major area of his work was in the design and testing of the air filter system on the sample return canister that has housed the precious asteroid material during its journey to Earth and will protect it from contamination when it lands on the surface. Preparing for an Asteroid Sample: From Canister to CurationĪmes researcher Scott Sandford has been involved with OSIRIS-REx since the earliest days of the mission. Read on for more details of Ames’ contributions to OSIRIS-REx. Ames experts also advised the mission on its thermal protection system – notably the heat shield that will protect the sample return capsule from the blistering heat of passing through Earth’s atmosphere. They helped design ways for the mission to collect high-quality samples, preserve them in pristine form, and develop a plan for the scientific community to study the essentially irreplaceable asteroid material. Teams at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley have played critical roles in preparing the mission for success and will continue to work on the OSIRIS-REx samples once they arrive. Understanding the physical and chemical properties of asteroids like Bennu will be critical, should humanity need to mitigate impact hazards in the future. ![]() Over the coming decades, scientists around the world will study the rocks and dust collected from the asteroid Bennu to learn about the formation of the solar system and the delivery of organic molecules to early Earth.īennu is also one of the most potentially hazardous asteroids for Earth impact, although the chances of impact in the 22nd century are only one in 1,750. A safe landing in the Utah desert for the spacecraft carrying this bounty will mark the end of a seven-year journey for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx – short for the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer – and the start of two intensive years of sample analysis activities for mission scientists on Earth. ![]() Extraterrestrial rocks and dust – material scooped up from an asteroid – are scheduled to be delivered to Earth on Sept.
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