Nasa have offered a first glimpse at samples of a 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid which they believe could hold the key to a greater understanding of the origins of life on Earth.
Initial studies of the space rock derived from Bennu – delivered to Earth last month – show evidence of high-carbon content and water, Nasa said on Wednesday.
Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson said the findings from a seven-year mission in space “will help scientists investigate the origins of life on our own planet for generations to come”.
The Osiris-Rex spacecraft flew close to Earth to drop a capsule carrying 250g of soil from the asteroid on September 25.
Scientists are expected to analyse the celestial discovery for decades to come, helping to unravel the mysteries of how our solar system was formed.
“Our labs were ready for whatever Bennu had in store for us,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of Johnson Space Centre.
“We’ve had scientists and engineers working side-by-side for years to develop specialised gloveboxes and tools to keep the asteroid material pristine and to curate the samples so researchers now and decades from now can study this precious gift from the cosmos.”
Scientists say early forensic investigations of the asteroid have already reaped impressive results.
“The bounty of carbon-rich material and the abundant presence of water-bearing clay minerals are just the tip of the cosmic iceberg,” said Dante Lauretta, Osiris-Rex principal investigator at the University of Arizona.
“These discoveries, made possible through years of dedicated collaboration and cutting-edge science, propel us on a journey to understand not only our celestial neighbourhood but also the potential for life’s beginnings.
“With each revelation from Bennu, we draw closer to unravelling the mysteries of our cosmic heritage.”
The mission team will continue painstaking analysis of the samples for the next two years, with the support of more than 200 scientists from across the globe.
How did the Osiris-Rex secure samples?
Bennu is a near-Earth asteroid that was first discovered in 1999 and is said to be formed from materials that date back billions of years.
The sample collection was a complex process because there was an 18.5-minute delay in sending and receiving signals between mission control and the craft due to the distance.
Navigation cameras on the capsule helped it to successfully reach the asteroid.
Bennu orbits the sun at 101,388kph. Osiris-Rex was programmed to travel towards it at about 19,400kph and slow itself down on approach.
Once close enough, the spacecraft extended its robotic arm and obtained samples.
How did the craft deliver the asteroid soil back to Earth?
After travelling billions of kilometres to Bennu and back, the spacecraft released its sample capsule towards Earth’s atmosphere.
The spacecraft was 102,000km from Earth’s surface at the time – about one-third of the distance from Earth to the Moon.
The capsule entered the atmosphere at 6.42pm while travelling at 27,650km and, within 10 minutes, it landed on a military range in a Utah desert.
Two parachutes that deployed helped to stabilise and slow the capsule down.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scores:
Toss: India, opted to field
Australia 158-4 (17 ov)
Maxwell 46, Lynn 37; Kuldeep 2-24
India 169-7 (17 ov)
Dhawan 76, Karthik 30; Zampa 2-22
Result: Australia won by 4 runs by D/L method
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
