CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA finally has counted up all the asteroid samples returned by a spacecraft last fall — and it’s double the rubble return goal.
Officials reported Thursday that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected 121.6 grams (4.29 ounces) of dust and pebbles from asteroid Bennu. That’s just over half a cup and the biggest cosmic haul ever from beyond the moon.
It took NASA longer than expected to pry open the sample container because of stuck fasteners.
The black, carbon-rich samples — the first ever collected from an asteroid by NASA — are stored at a special curation lab at Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
Osiris-Rex returned the samples last September, three years after gathering them from the asteroid. The haul for the $1 billion mission would have been greater, but rocks jammed the lid of the container following the grab and some samples floated away.
NY DA 'so sorry' for cursing at officer who tried to ticket her
Profile: Xi Jinping Steers Decade of Reform Toward Chinese Modernization
U.S. guilty of coercion diplomacy: FM spokesperson
China retrieves subglacial bedrock sample from East Antarctic
Sue Bird says joining ownership group of the Seattle Storm felt inevitable
U.S. guilty of coercion diplomacy: FM spokesperson
U.S. stocks fall as investors dump risky assets amid surging inflation
NATO's bigger remit brings rising dangers
Messi to Miami: Soccer star, and a few teammates, show up for Heat
Flight show held in Zadar, Croatia
Chinese defense minister holds video call with US counterpart
News Analysis: U.S. president touts gas tax holiday amid surging energy prices