The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was designed to go to the asteroid Bennu, where it was to make a short landing on the body’s presumed rocky surface, gather a tiny sample, and then return to Earth. However, the mission was aborted due to technical difficulties. But despite the fact that most of the expedition amazingly went according to plan, there was one significant surprise along the road.
When the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft attempted to land on Bennu in the year 2020, it mysteriously sank into the exterior of the asteroid, which has been described as being similar to a “plastic ball pit” for children in a recent update provided by NASA. This resulted in a spectacular blast of celestial matter.
#OSIRISREx data gathered during sample collection show that asteroid Bennu's exterior is made up of loosely packed & lightly bound rock. So, standing on its surface would feel like being in a plastic ball pit.
Ready, set, jump! https://t.co/xX75KDjAFW pic.twitter.com/P0xxIte2jN
— NASA 360 (@NASA360) July 8, 2022
Now, the experts working on the mission believe they have finally figured out why it happened, as described in a pair of new publications that were released this week. Because of how unexpected the results were, the researchers decided to send the craft again to Bennu six months after they first arrived there. The imaging obtained during the second mission revealed that OSIRIS-REx had left behind an impact crater with a diameter of 65 feet, which has been given the name “Nightingale.”
According to a statement released by NASA, the experts think that the mass of Bennu is the key to understanding its surprising fluff. Because the particles that make up the surface of the planet are very barely connected and loosely packed, the appearance of the surface being solid belies the fact that there is a significant amount of space between them. According to NASA, the sensation of walking upon the planet would be comparable to the sensation of stepping into a hole filled with plastic balls.
When the spacecraft initially landed at Bennu in December 2018, NASA was startled to see a surface that was covered with rocks rather than what they believed would be a sandy surface similar to a beach. In addition to this, it was discovered that the asteroid was ejecting fragments of rock into the surrounding space.
On the other hand, the force that holds particles together on the surface proved to be a somewhat more surprising discovery. A film produced by NASA uses some really fantastic visuals to assist illustrate what the phenomena was like to experience.
