NASA finally got the lid off the OSIRIS-REx asteroid Bennu sample capsule

Back in September the container holding bits of asteroid Bennu successfully returned to much excitement , the capsule was recovered and taken to the lab to examine the goodies from the dawn of our Solar System , luckily when they started to unwrap their gift from Bennu they discovered 70.3 grams of Bennu bits sitting outside the secured hatch.

Stuff that's over 4.56 billion years old.


Which was a good thing because try as they might they couldn't open the hatch , it was stuck fast. They couldn't blow the bloody door off because contamination so NASA bods created a tool to do the job and do the job it did.

On Wednesday (Jan. 10), NASA technicians finally removed the stuck fasteners from the sample return capsule of its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft — which completed the first asteroid sample return mission in U.S. history when it landed in Utah in September 2023. Tucked in its capsule were rocks and dust collected from the asteroid Bennu. Initially, the team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas was able to access 70.3 grams (2.48 ounces) of material — 10 grams more than the mission’s goal — from the outside of the sampler head, called the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM).

However, the bulk of the asteroid sample material remained trapped inside the capsule when two of the 35 fasteners on TAGSAM could not be removed with existing tools approved for use inside the OSIRIS-REx glovebox, which ensures the asteroid samples are not contaminated during processing. Thankfully, researchers were able to develop new tools that could tackle the stubborn fasteners, according to a statement from NASA.
www.space.com...

Necessity is the mother of invention.

There always seems to be a problem but that's how we grow and learn our way into and back from space, and invent as you say.

a reply to: gortex

What the hell, Apple will probably be looking at those two fastener designs for their next iPhone. Good thing Boeing didn't make them, otherwise the capsule would have opened up with the first gust of wind.

originally posted by: Encia22
a reply to: gortex

What the hell, Apple will probably be looking at those two fastener designs for their next iPhone. Good thing Boeing didn't make them, otherwise the capsule would have opened up with the first gust of wind.

I was thinking the same thing.

They should have given that capsule to a four year old kid. The kid would have had it opened and spread all over the lab in five minutes tops.

Someone ordered the wrong locktite

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