[Music] On October 20, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft
collected a sample of asteroid Bennu.
The event revealed surprising details about Bennu’s surface
and near-subsurface.
[Dramatic music]
One second after contact, OSIRIS-REx injected Bennu
with pressurized nitrogen gas…
Causing an explosion of particles and driving loose
material into its sample collector.
Nine seconds after contact, thrusters on board OSIRIS-REx
halted its descent into Bennu…
Pushing it away from the asteroid, and blasting loose
material from the sample site.
The spacecraft’s arm had sunk almost half a meter
beneath the surface…
Far deeper than expected, confirming that
Bennu’s surface is incredibly weak.
Sixteen seconds after contact, the arm fully reemerged
from the subsurface.
OSIRIS-REx had collected a handful of material
and kicked up roughly six tons of loose rock.
Thirty seconds after contact, it shut off its thrusters
and drifted away from Bennu.
OSIRIS-REx will return its sample to Earth
in September 2023.
[Music fades]