{"id":93918,"date":"2023-10-11T13:50:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T17:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freethink.com\/?post_type=ftm_article&p=93918"},"modified":"2023-10-11T14:05:40","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T18:05:40","slug":"bennu-asteroid-sample-osiris-rex","status":"publish","type":"ftm_article","link":"https:\/\/www.freethink.com\/space\/bennu-asteroid-sample-osiris-rex","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s asteroid sample contains an abundance of carbon and water"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On October 11, NASA shared its first update<\/a> on the asteroid sample brought to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx mission \u2014 and they\u2019re thrilled with what they\u2019ve seen so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOSIRIS-REx \u2014 the team \u2014 we picked the right asteroid,\u201d said Daniel Glavin, OSIRIS-REx sample analyst. \u201cAnd not only that, we brought back the right sample. This stuff is an astrobiologist\u2019s dream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The asteroid sample: <\/strong>Seven years ago, NASA launched the OSIRIS-REx mission to retrieve a sample of Bennu<\/a>. Because the asteroid formed around the same time as our solar system, 4.5 billion years ago, the hope was that the sample would reveal insights into Earth\u2019s early history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 24, OSIRIS-REx delivered, returning a capsule containing bits of Bennu<\/a> to Earth, marking NASA\u2019s first successful retrieval of an asteroid sample.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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