While extracting a scoop of soil from an orbiting space rock and bringing it back to Earth may seem like the most complex part of an asteroid sample collection mission, the real challenge is actually getting that sample container into place. It turned out to be a matter of opening it once. I’m back home. It took more than 3 months, The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft announced it has finally removed two stuck fasteners that were preventing it from accessing the large amount of material it collected from the asteroid Bennu. OSIRIS-REx dropped a sample on September 24 before heading off to study another asteroid, Apophis.
Initially, NASA was able to: The container was discovered outside the Touch and Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), but a problem with two of the 35 fasteners that keep the container closed meant that its contents could not be contained. remained locked. TAGSAM is stored in a special glovebox to prevent sample contamination, and only specific tools are allowed to use it. None of the existing tools worked to remove the stubborn fasteners from his TAGSAM head, so the team had to develop a new tool.
“In addition to the design challenges of being limited to curation-approved materials to protect the scientific value of asteroid samples, these new tools are limited by height, weight, and glovebox sealing that limits the potential for It also needed to function within a space defined by arc motion,” said OSIRIS-REx curator Dr. Nicole Lanning. Now that the TAGSAM head is free, the team can proceed with disassembling the container. That means you’ll be able to see what’s inside right away. NASA’s preliminary assessment of dust and rock from outside his TAGSAM has found evidence of carbon and water.