The Morning After: NASA finally shows what’s inside its Bennu asteroid container
In a very relatable moment, NASA struggled for three months to get the lid off its asteroid sample container, having sent it into deep(ish) space and back. Same, NASA, same: I’ve struggled with jars of pickles.
The space agency was finally able to get into the asteroid Bennu sample container last week and published a high-resolution image of its Touch-and-Go-Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) on Friday, revealing a delightful array of dust and rocks, scraped off Bennu by spacecraft OSIRIS-REx.
The TAGSAM lives in a special glove compartment to prevent the sample from being contaminated, and only certain tools are approved for use with it. The team eventually had to develop new tools to open the fasteners. Tapping it on the side of the kitchen counter did not work.
— Mat Smith
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-nasa-finally-shows-whats-inside-its-bennu-asteroid-container-121523420.html?src=rss
In a very relatable moment, NASA struggled for three months to get the lid off its asteroid sample container, having sent it into deep(ish) space and back. Same, NASA, same: I’ve struggled with jars of pickles. The space agency was finally able to get into the asteroid Bennu sample container…
