What did NASA find inside the Doomsday Rock?

Arabia Weather - NASA scientists found more than they expected when they first opened the capsule carrying a sample of the asteroid Bennu, also known as the “Doomsday Rock,” which is located near Earth. NASA began opening the OSIRIS-REx mission capsule, which collected samples from this asteroid, and announced on Tuesday that it had discovered “black dust and debris” inside it, even before analysis of the main part of the sample began.

When scientists opened the capsule containing the sample, they discovered the presence of dark materials containing fine grains inside the lid of the container and its base surrounding the mechanism used to collect rocks and extraterrestrial soil. This unexpected debris could provide key information about the asteroid before the initial sample is analysed.

Seven years after its launch, the capsule successfully landed on Earth on Sunday, in the American desert, after performing an extremely dangerous maneuver. According to NASA estimates, the mission was able to collect about 250 grams of material from the asteroid Bennu in 2020, and this is the largest sample ever collected from an asteroid.