In a daring mission, a Nasa spacecraft has successfully landed on an asteroid to bring rock and dust from its surface back to Earth.
Just after 3am UAE time on Wednesday, Nasa’s Osiris-Rex probe skimmed over the surface of a small asteroid orbiting 330 million kilometres away from Earth.
Mission controllers hope the spacecraft has grabbed up to a kilogram of rock and dust from its surface - the largest sample ever brought back from another world so far from Earth.
The probe is now preparing to head back to Earth, dropping off its cargo for study in 2023.
In December 2019, the Osiris-Rex team announced the chosen landing site, which they called Nightingale.
But the site was only the size of a tennis court and at its edge was a boulder as big as a two-story building. The researchers called this boulder, Mount Doom - which the probe successfully dodged during its descent.
Why the interest in asteroids?
First discovered around 200 years ago, asteroids are the rocky debris left over from the formation of the solar system around 4.5 billion years ago.
While some are hundreds of kilometres across, most are much smaller and have remained largely unchanged since their formation – making them of intense scientific interest.
But asteroids are increasingly attracting attention for two other reasons: as a source of valuable metals including gold, and the threat they pose by colliding with the Earth. The Osiris-Rex mission is expected to cast light on all these issues.
What is Osiris-Rex?
Roughly the size of a van, Osiris-Rex was launched from Cape Canaveral in September 2016 on a two-year flight to a 500m-wide asteroid named Bennu.
Discovered in 1999, Bennu was chosen as it shows signs of being made of virtually pristine primordial material dating back billions of years.
But Bennu is also on a path that could lead to a collision with the Earth around 150 years from now with the violence of a thousand thermonuclear weapons.
Since arriving at the asteroid in 2018, Osiris-Rex has been scanning the object to determine its shape, size and composition to better understand both its origin and the threat it poses to our planet.
But its principal goal is to grab and return a sample of the asteroid to Earth for detailed study.
How will Osiris-Rex get the sample back?
The probe used a 3.3metre-long sampling arm extended beneath it, fitted with a nozzle designed to blow fragments of rock off the surface and into on board traps.
Called the Touch-And-Go Sampler (Tagsam), it was designed by an engineer at Lockheed Martin using a plastic cup and air compressor, and was first tested on a gravel driveway.
The device may have retrieved as much as a kilogram of debris. That would be the biggest sample of another world retrieved since the Apollo moon missions half a century ago - and the most ever from so far away.
While a Japanese probe is already heading back to earth with a sample of another asteroid, it retrieved just one tenth of a gram of material.
How tricky was it?
It was far trickier than anyone expected.
Before the mission set off, earth-bound studies of Bennu suggested its surface was relatively smooth and sandy.
But as Osiris-Rex approached the asteroid, its cameras revealed the surface to be far more rugged.
With the probe designed to orbit just 1km above the surface and then dip down to just a few metres to grab the sample, the discovery shocked mission designers.
They spent months mapping out the surface in meticulous detail, looking for sites that would pose the least threat to the probe as retrieved its sample.
The chosen site was a crater containing debris small enough for Tagsam to cope with.
But Osiris-Rex had to achieve its mission - including dodging Mount Doom - with no help from Earth.
The probe is so far away that any radio commands take 18 minutes to be received – far too long to avert disaster.
It did have the ability to abort the landing if it looked too dangerous.
What happens next?
Osiris-Rex will weigh and stow the sample in a capsule which it will release when near the Earth again in September 2023.
After re-entry, the capsule will land in the Utah desert and its contents will be taken off for detailed study.
But tests aboard Osiris-Rex are expected to reveal how much material it has grabbed within the next few days.
Images of Mars
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
SUZUME
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Australia (15-1): Israel Folau; Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Kurtley Beale, Marika Koroibete; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; David Pocock, Michael Hooper (capt), Lukhan Tui; Adam Coleman, Izack Rodda; Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Tom Robertson.
Replacements: Tolu Latu, Allan Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Rob Simmons, Pete Samu, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Jack Maddocks.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Rocketman
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
