The OSIRIS-REx probe returns today from a long journey, with very precious deposits in its coffers!
One question particularly excites scientists responsible for space exploration: that of the origins of life. And to find answers, several types of missions have been set up over the years. Some therefore aim to directly find life in other biotopes, such as Saturn’s satellite, Enceladus, while others seek to bring together materials scattered in space to understand our origins. This is the case with OSIRIS-REx!
7 years of travel
NASA explores space, but NASA also wants to make the results of its discoveries known to an ever-wider audience. So for those who had heard about the OSIRIS-REx probe, launched in September 2016, know that you will be able to follow its landing in the United States live on YouTube, this Sunday, September 24, at 4 p.m., Paris time.
The OSIRIS-REx mission consisted of collecting stardust, which was collected by a robot on the asteroid Bénou between 2018 and 2021. The latter is a near-Earth asteroid that crosses Earth’s orbit, and whose orbital period around the sun is 1.2 years.
Organic compounds, the major piece
So what did OSIRIS-REx do on this asteroid? Well, according to scientists, Benu is partly composed of matter that was present in our solar system even before its formation, that is to say around 4.5 billion years ago. Among these interesting pieces, scientists particularly want to look at organic compounds (integrating carbon linked to other atoms such as hydrogen or oxygen). They could provide clues to the origins of our solar system.
Other problems could also be explored through this exploration mission. “ We will also look for information on interstellar environments (the matter which fills the space between the stars in the galaxy), on the protosolar nebula (the cloud which gave birth to our solar system), on asteroids, on the formation of our planet… What is at stake is understanding the origin of life », thus explains to France Info astrophysicist Antonella Barucci. Will science experience very exciting times soon?
Source : NASA on X.com, France Info
3