Soon now, the world will know -- with great precision -- what the original star stuff was made of -- the stuff that congealed into our rocky but water covered home planet some 4.8 billion years ago. Here's the latest on the NASA sample transport, and unpacking:
. . .The sample arrived in Houston at 12:40 pm ET (11:40 am CT) aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft, which landed at Ellington Field. From there, it was transferred to NASA Johnson.
The clean room includes custom glove boxes built to fit the sample canister containing the TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) head inside. The TAGSAM head was on the end of a robotic arm that collected rocks and dust from asteroid Bennu’s surface on October 20, 2020. . . .
Having practiced these procedures for months, scientists and technicians plan to proceed through the many steps of removing the sample from the TAGSAM. First, they plan to place the canister in the glove box and disassemble it. Then, they plan to remove the TAGSAM head, where scientists expect most sample to be, cataloging and storing every piece of hardware and asteroid dust found outside of it.
Researchers plan to analyze asteroid dust from the initial disassembly for an early glimpse into the chemical, mineralogical, and physical characteristics and rock types that may be found in the bulk sample.
NASA plans to share these initial findings, plus first images of the sample, in a live broadcast on October 11. . . .
Now you know. . . this is an extraordinary achievement -- even before the first mineralogical results are published. Woosh!
And. . . perhaps. . . evidence of biological processes, on Europe? Outstanding! Onward, grinning. . . .
नमस्ते
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