NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) has discovered water on the asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft travelled 1.4 million miles to arrive at its location 12 miles from the Bennu asteroid on December 3 and quickly discovered the liquid within the clays of the asteroid. Data obtained from the spacecraft revealed the presence of “hydroxyls” – molecules that contain oxygen and hydrogen atoms bonded together.
NASA has explained these hydroxyl groups “exist globally across the asteroid in water-bearing clay minerals”, meaning that at some point, Bennu’s rocky material “interacted with water.”
However, the space program makes it clear Bennu itself is too small to have ever hosted liquid water but indicates it has been present on Bennu’s “parent body”, which is a much larger asteroid.
Amy Simon, OVIRS deputy instrument scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland said: “The presence of hydrated minerals across the asteroid confirms that Bennu, a remnant from early in the formation of the solar system, is an excellent specimen for the OSIRIS-REx mission to study the composition of primitive volatiles and organics.
“When samples of this material are returned by the mission to Earth in 2023, scientists will receive a treasure trove of new information about the history and evolution of our solar system.”
Scientists behind the missions were also ecstatic to learn they were accurate in predicting Bennu’s shape.
The modelling shows NASA was correct when it came to diameter, rotation rate and inclination.
However, the spacecraft found Bennu’s surface to be more rocky than expected.
This means scientists will need to make more observations at closer range to ensure where a sample can be taken from the surface in planned in 2020.
But the new information is not too great to overcome, according to OSIRIS-REx principal investigator.
Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson said: “Our initial data show that the team picked the right asteroid as the target of the OSIRIS-REx mission.
“We have not discovered any insurmountable issues at Bennu so far.
“The spacecraft is healthy, and the science instruments are working better than required.
“It is time now for our adventure to begin.”
The OSIRIS REx spacecraft will now continue to examine the asteroid by flying as close as 4.4 miles to determine the masse.
The spacecraft will fly to its north pole, equator and south pole and will help scientists understand its structure and composition.
Bennu, who is located relatively close to Earth, could help researchers discover more about asteroids in the future.
NASA has also revealed the samples from Bennu could tell them more about how planets formed and life began.