NASA Returns Samples Dating Back To Birth Of Solar System

Lockheed Martin OSIRIS recovery team

Lockheed Martin recovery team members Levi Hanish (left) and Michael Kaye loaded the Osiris-REx SRC into a cradle after touchdown on Sept. 24 in Utah.

Credit: Keegan Barber/NASA
When NASA’s Osiris-REx spacecraft plunged its robotic arm into the asteroid Bennu three years ago, scientists had a big surprise. Instead of stopping at the ground to gather samples, the collection device at the end of the arm passed down into what turned out to be a not very dense rubble pile...

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