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NASA says sample of asteroid Bennu is largest carbon-rich specimen ever returned to Earth | FULL

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NASA unveiled its sample collected from the surface of the asteroid Bennu which contained "abundant water in the form of hydrated clay minerals as nearly five per cent carbon by weight," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said Wednesday at the Johnston Space Center in Houston.

"This is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever returned to Earth," Nelson added.

NASA hopes to gain a deeper understanding of the beginnings of the solar system as well as improve its knowledge about asteroids that could threaten Earth.

The sample was collected back in 2020 from an asteroid located more than 322 million kilometres from Earth.

The material was collected by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and is only the third asteroid sample, and by far the biggest, ever returned to Earth for analysis. Japan's space agency collected samples from two missions in 2010 and 2020.

Like other asteroids, Bennu is a relic of the early solar system, with its present-day chemistry and mineralogy virtually unchanged since it forced some 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists believe it could hold clues to the development of rocky planets like Earth.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/9979464/osiris-rex-asteroid-sample-explainer/

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U.S. & Canada
Tags
global news, asteroid sample, Near-Earth asteroid sample
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