Nasa spacecraft Osiris-Rex to collect Bennu asteroid sample in 10 second mission

Have you ever heard of a space mission that lasted only 10 seconds?

Well, now you have!

On Tuesday, a Nasa spacecraft called the Osiris-Rex will attempt to collect a sample from the Bennu asteroid, in a mission that will take only 5 to ten seconds.

The hope is to collect 60g worth of dirt and gravel from the surface of the boulder-packed asteroid.

More on the mission

View of asteroid Bennu releasing particles from its surface

The Bennu asteroid is very, very old and is thought to have formed over 4.5 BILLION years ago. Because it is so old, Bennu could be made of material containing molecules that were present when life first formed on Earth.

It's also hundreds of millions of miles away from Earth and the van-sized Osiris-Rex spacecraft has been circling it for nearly two years.

The spacecraft operators on Earth will give Osiris-Rex instructions and then it will take a four-hour detour from its orbit to just above the asteroid's surface.

Then an 11ft arm will reach out and touch the asteroid in the hope it can grab the sample. The scientists hope that the evidence will help them find out important details about how life is formed.

Image of asteroid Bennu taken by Nasa's Osiris-Rex spacecraft in 2018

If the first attempt fails, the spacecraft can try again - but experts will still have to wait until 2023 before the samples touch back down to Earth! This is because the asteroid is so far away, it will take years for the spacecraft to travel back home.

NASA's deputy project manager Mike Moreau spoke about how complex the Bennu mission is: "So for some perspective, the next time you park your car in front of your house or in front of a coffee shop and walk inside, think about the challenge of navigating Osiris-Rex into one of these spots from 200 million miles away."

It will be a historic mission for Nasa as it will be their first sample collection from an asteroid's surface. Japan is the only country in the world to have completed such a mission.

Pretty cool!

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