CAPE CANAVERAL (AP) – National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) showed off its first asteroid samples delivered last month by a spacecraft – a jumble of black dust and rubble that’s the most ever returned to Earth.
Scientists anticipated getting a cupful but are still unsure how much was grabbed from the carbon-rich asteroid named Bennu, almost 97 million kilometres away. That’s because the main sample chamber has yet to be opened, officials said during an event at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“It’s been going slow and meticulous, but the science is already starting,” said the mission’s lead scientist Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona.
