We Touched Down On An Asteroid & We’re Bringing Back What?
Science is AMAZING!
While we're all down here going crazy over who's getting muted at a presidential debate, NASA is doing big things.
We told you the other day about them setting up 4G on the moon for the lunar base their building. Coming soon in 2028.
That's right. Lunar Base. 4G. Space Force here we come.
So what's next?
Kids on Tuesday, we touched down on an asteroid in space.
Now I'm sure you've heard about the one that's supposed to be passing near Earth around election day right?
Scary stuff but THIS ONE is a completely DIFFERENT asteroid.
This one is called asteroid Bennu. And according to NASA, it's about 200 million miles away from us.
NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft unfurled its robotic arm Tuesday, and in a first for the agency, briefly touched an asteroid to collect dust and pebbles from the surface for delivery to Earth in 2023. (NASA)
So we kind of paced along side an asteroid, extended an arm out, touched the surface of said asteroid, and gathered a sample.
The required amount for the sample is about 60 grams -- about a full-size candy bar -- but the capsule can hold up to 2 kilograms of material from the asteroid's surface. (CNN)
And this wasn't some little bitty asteroid. According to CNN it's a boulder-studded asteroid shaped like a spinning top and as tall as the Empire State Building.
So we flew along side a spinning asteroid, grabbed a soil sample, and we're bringing it back. It'll take roughly about 2-3 years to get back here.
Science is truly amazing.
My inner sci-fi movie geek is screaming HOLD UP WAIT A MINUTE!
Have we learned nothing from Alien? I mean I know it's not a living sample...or is it?!?
We're bringing foreign space dust from an asteroid millions of miles away back to Earth? It's 2020. And if that thing was going to land before the end of the year, I'd be like HELL NAW. Not the way this year is going.
Pandora's Box is on the way. Snail mail speed. And after this year and coronavirus, it couldn't possibly get any worse right?
Right?