Mise NASA OSIRIS-REx přináší vzorek z asteroidu Bennu na Zemi

NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, launched seven years ago in 2016 to near-Země asteroid Bennu has delivered the asteroid sample that it collected in 2020 to Země na 24^th September 2023. After releasing the asteroid sample into Země atmosphere, the spacecraft embarked on its extended travel to asteroid Apophis as OSIRIS-APRX mission. The asteroid Bennu is an ancient carbonaceous asteroid that has rocks and dusts from the birth of the solar system. Study of the returned sample shall throw light on how planety were formed and how life began on Země. More importantly, there is small risk of Bennu impacting with Země late next century between the years 2175 and 2199. Results from OSIRIS-REx mission will help refine the predicted path of the asteroid Bennu as well as of other potentially hazardous asteroids to plan and execute mitigation.

NASA’s asteroid sample return mission OSIRIS-REx has successfully brought a sample weighing about 250 grams from the asteroid Bennu. The capsule of rocks and dust collected from the asteroid in 2020 landed at Utah site near Salt Lake City in the USA on Sunday 24^th Září 2023.

OSIRIS-REx was NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission.

NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx (acronym for “Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer”) was launched to the near-Země asteroid Bennu on 8^th září 2016. Vzorek hornin a prachu z povrchu asteroidu odebral 20^th October 2020 and started its return journey to Země na 10^th května 2021. Na zpáteční cestě cestovala dva a půl roku, aby dorazila, když se vzorová návratová kapsle oddělila od kosmické lodi a vstoupila do zemského prostoru atmosféra. With this, the spacecraft completed a seven-year journey and the mission OSIRIS-REx, the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid, was completed. But the journey of spacecraft continues towards asteroid Apophis as OSIRIS-APEX mission after releasing sample return capsule into Země atmosféra.

Časová osa mise NASA OSIRIS-REx

Datum / rok	milníky
Září 8, 2016	Kosmická loď vypuštěna
Prosince 3, 2018	dorazil k asteroidu Bennu
2019 - 2020	hledat bezpečné místo pro odběr vzorků na Bennu
Října 20, 2020	Vzorek odebraný
10	Začala zpáteční cesta na Zemi
24. září 2023	Kapsle obsahující kameny a vzorek prachu odebraný z asteroidu Bennu vypuštěný do zemské atmosféry, který bezpečně přistál na Zemi. Tímto byla mise OSIRIS-REX dokončena.
24. září 2023	Cesta kosmické lodi pokračuje k dalšímu blízkozemnímu asteroidu Apophis a mise přejmenovaná na OSIRIS-APEX

Discovered in September 1999 and named after an ancient Egyptian deity, asteroid Bennu is a near-Earth oběžná dráha, ancient asteroid thought to have formed over 4.5 billion years ago in the early phase of solar system’s history. It is a B-type, carbonaceous asteroid that has rocks and dust from the birth of the solar system. It may also have material containing molecules that were present when life first formed on Earth. Asteroids rich in organické látky are thought to have played a role in catalysing life on Earth. The study of the sample brought from the asteroid Bennu is expected to throw light on how planety were formed and how life began.

As a near-Earth object (NEO), Bennu is a potentially hazardous asteroid as it may impact Earth late in next century between the years 2175 and 2199 though the probability of such an event is low. The exact path of rotating asteroids (such as Bennu) through the solar system is little unpredictable due to Yarkovsky effect (heating up of surfaces during the day and cooling down at night gives of radiation that may act like a mini thruster to drift the asteroid away over time). The measurement of the Yarkovsky Effect by OSIRIS-REx will help refine the predicted oběžná dráha of the asteroid Bennu as well as of other potentially hazardous asteroids and help in planetární obrana.

Under the renamed mission OSIRIS-APEx, the spacecraft is now travelling towards another near-Earth asteroid Apophis (about 1,000 feet wide) which will approach Earth within the range of about 20,000 miles in 2029. At that time, the spacecraft will enter the oběžná dráha of Apophis to investigate how “close approach to Earth” affected its oběžná dráha, spin rate, and surface. This knowledge will help in dealing with “close approach of asteroid Bennu” in late next century.

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Zdroje:

První vzorek asteroidu NASA přistál, nyní je zajištěn v čisté místnosti. Publikováno 24. září 2023. Dostupné na https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-first-asteroid-sample-has-landed-now-secure-in-clean-room . Zpřístupněno dne 25. září 2023.