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NASA probe finds signs of water on nearby asteroid Bennu
News:
NASA probe finds signs of water on nearby Asteroid Bennu
Facts:
- NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has discovered traces of hydrogen and oxygen molecules near asteroid Bennu.
- Data obtained from the spacecraft’s revealed the presence of molecules that contain oxygen and hydrogen atoms bonded together, known as ‘hydroxyls.
Bennu – OSIRIS-REx Mission
- The probe, on a mission to return samples from the asteroid to Earth, was launched in 2016. Bennu, roughly a third of a mile wide (500 meters), orbits the sun at roughly the same distance as Earth.
- OSIRIS-REx was launched to determine Bennu’s physical and chemical properties, which will be critical to know in the event of an impact mitigation mission.
- Bennu is a B-type asteroid with a 500-meter diameter. It completes an orbit around the Sun every 436.604 days (1.2 years) and every 6 years comes very close to Earth, within 0.002 AU.
- It is expected to have organic compounds and water-bearing minerals like clays.
- Beenu is carbonaceous asteroid whose regolith may record the earliest history of our solar system.
- It is also considered one of the most potentially hazardous asteroids, as it has a relatively high probability of impacting the Earth late in the 22nd century.
