Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

NASA’s Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) Courtesy: Lockheed Martin

The final count is in – 121.6 grams (4.29 ounces)!

That’s the total amount of collected bits and pieces of asteroid Bennu here on Earth, courtesy of NASA’s Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission.

The capsule containing the extraterrestrial goodies landed last September, parachuting into the Department of Defense Dugway Proving Ground in the Utah Test and Training Range, roughly 80 miles west of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Following its high-speed re-entry, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule served as an artificial meteor before parachuting into the desert landscape of the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range.
Image credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

Due to hard-to-remove fastners, specialists were initially thwarted opening the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) – where the bulk of Bennu collectibles were stored.

That issue was resolved in January.

Big reveal

The samples from afar include the rocks and dust found on the outside of the sampler head, as well as a portion of the bulk sample from inside the head, which was accessed through the head’s mylar flap.

What was not known was how much additional material remained inside the sampler head, to be added to the mass total.

View of the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism (TAGSAM) head with balky lid removed, unveiling the bulk of asteroid Bennu sample inside.
(Image credit: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld/Joseph Aebersold

The big reveal just announced by NASA:

The remaining Bennu sample was recently poured into wedge-shaped containers, amounting to 1.81 ounces (51.2 grams).

Final total

Combined with the previously measured 2.48 ounces (70.3 grams) and additional particles collected outside of the pour, the bulk Bennu sample mass totals 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams), NASA reports.

A view of eight sample trays containing the final material from asteroid Bennu. The dust and rocks were poured into the trays from the top plate of the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) head. 51.2 grams were collected from this pour, bringing the final mass of asteroid sample to 121.6 grams. Image credit: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold

That final total is a little less than what OSIRIS-REx researchers originally thought snagged by the spacecraft – but twice what was promised prior to launching the asteroid mission on Sept. 8, 2016. The goal of the enterprise was to bring at least 60 grams to Earth.

Go to my earlier Space.com story on what’s being learned by analyzing the Bennu samples. Take a read of “1st look at asteroid Bennu samples suggests space rock may even be ‘a fragment of an ancient ocean world’” at:

https://www.space.com/asteroid-bennu-osiris-rex-samples-1st-look-surprises

Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx’s principal investigator from the University of Arizona holds a mock up of the asteroid collection device – TAGSAM.
Image credit: Barbara David