SAMPLING THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEMThe sample site on Bennu, nicknamed Nightingale. OSIRIS-REx collected...
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SOLAR SYSTEM SAMPLING THE EARLY SPECIAL SECTION O ur knowledge of the Solar System has been greatly advanced by exploration with robotic spacecraft, but there are many limitations on the instruments those can carry. More detailed infor- mation can be extracted by analyzing samples of Solar System bodies in Earth laboratories. Meteorites provide some natural samples, but the body they came from is often unknown, and they may not repre- sent typical material. Recent years have seen in- creased interest in directly retrieving samples from other worlds and bringing them back to Earth, a process known as sample return. The most primitive carbonaceous asteroids pre- serve information about the formation and early evolution of the Solar System and thus have been a high priority for sample return. The Hayabusa mission collected 1500 dust particles from aster- oid (25143) Itokawa and returned them to Earth in 2010. A successor mission, Hayabusa2, visited asteroid (162173) Ryugu with the goal of obtaining a larger mass of sample, which is due to arrive on Earth in December 2020. Meanwhile, on 31 Decem- ber 2018, the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Inter- pretation, Resource Identification, and Security– Regolith Explorer) spacecraft arrived at another primitive asteroid, (101955) Bennu, with plans to return at least 60 grams of material. Writing in Science and Science Advances, mem- bers of the OSIRIS-REx team present results from the survey and reconnaissance phases of the mis- sion. Detailed maps of surface properties were used to identify promising sites for sample col- lection and provide the necessary scientific con- text. These data provide information on Bennu’s composition, constrain its formation process, and show how its surface evolved. They show that Bennu’s surface material has been modified by exposure to space weathering, contains abundant organic material, and has evidence of past altera- tion by liquid water. OSIRIS-REx successfully col- lected its sample of Bennu on 20 October 2020; it is due to arrive on Earth in 2023. 1 Senior Editor, Science. 2 Deputy Editor, Science Advances. SCIENCE RESEARCH ARTICLES Variations in color and refectance on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu p. 674 Widespread carbon-bearing materials on near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu p. 675 Bright carbonate veins on asteroid (101955) Bennu: Implications for aqueous alteration history p. 676 SCIENCE ADVANCES RESEARCH ARTICLES Heterogeneous mass distribution of the rubble-pile asteroid (101955) Bennu 10.1126/sciadv.abc3350 Hemispherical diferences in the shape and topography of asteroid (101955) Bennu 10.1126/sciadv.abd3649 Asteroid (101955) Bennu’s weak boulders and thermally anomalous equator 10.1126/sciadv.abc3699 By Keith T. Smith 1 and Kip V. Hodges 2 672 6 NOVEMBER 2020 • VOL 370 ISSUE 6517 sciencemag.org SCIENCE PHOTO: NASA/GODDARD/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA Published by AAAS on June 21, 2021 http://science.sciencemag.org/ Downloaded from
Transcript of SAMPLING THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEMThe sample site on Bennu, nicknamed Nightingale. OSIRIS-REx collected...
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SOLAR SYSTEMSAMPLING THE EARLY
S P E C I A L S E C T I O N
Our knowledge of the Solar System has
been greatly advanced by exploration
with robotic spacecraft, but there are
many limitations on the instruments
those can carry. More detailed infor-
mation can be extracted by analyzing
samples of Solar System bodies in Earth
laboratories. Meteorites provide some
natural samples, but the body they came
from is often unknown, and they may not repre-
sent typical material. Recent years have seen in-
creased interest in directly retrieving samples from
other worlds and bringing them back to Earth, a
process known as sample return.
The most primitive carbonaceous asteroids pre-
serve information about the formation and early
evolution of the Solar System and thus have been
a high priority for sample return. The Hayabusa
mission collected 1500 dust particles from aster-
oid (25143) Itokawa and returned them to Earth
in 2010. A successor mission, Hayabusa2, visited
asteroid (162173) Ryugu with the goal of obtaining
a larger mass of sample, which is due to arrive on
Earth in December 2020. Meanwhile, on 31 Decem-
ber 2018, the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Inter-
pretation, Resource Identifi cation, and Security–
Regolith Explorer) spacecraft arrived at another
primitive asteroid, (101955) Bennu, with plans to
return at least 60 grams of material.
Writing in Science and Science Advances, mem-
bers of the OSIRIS-REx team present results from
the survey and reconnaissance phases of the mis-
sion. Detailed maps of surface properties were
used to identify promising sites for sample col-
lection and provide the necessary scientifi c con-
text. These data provide information on Bennu’s
composition, constrain its formation process, and
show how its surface evolved. They show that
Bennu’s surface material has been modifi ed by
exposure to space weathering, contains abundant
organic material, and has evidence of past altera-
tion by liquid water. OSIRIS-REx successfully col-
lected its sample of Bennu on 20 October 2020; it
is due to arrive on Earth in 2023.
1Senior Editor, Science. 2Deputy Editor, Science Advances.
SCIENCE RESEARCH ARTICLES
Variations in color and ref ectance on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu p. 674
Widespread carbon-bearing materials on near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu p. 675
Bright carbonate veins on asteroid (101955) Bennu: Implications for aqueous alteration history p. 676
SCIENCE ADVANCES RESEARCH ARTICLES
Heterogeneous mass distribution of the rubble-pile asteroid (101955) Bennu 10.1126/sciadv.abc3350
Hemispherical dif erences in the shape and topography of asteroid (101955) Bennu 10.1126/sciadv.abd3649
Asteroid (101955) Bennu’s weak boulders and thermally anomalous equator 10.1126/sciadv.abc3699
By Keith T. Smith1 and Kip V. Hodges2
672 6 NOVEMBER 2020 • VOL 370 ISSUE 6517 sciencemag.org SCIENCE
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The sample site on Bennu, nicknamed
Nightingale. OSIRIS-REx collected
material from within the blue circle.
6 NOVEMBER 2020 • VOL 370 ISSUE 6517 673SCIENCE sciencemag.org
Published by AAAS
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Sampling the Early Solar SystemKeith T. Smith and Kip V. Hodges
DOI: 10.1126/science.abf2271 (6517), 672-673.370Science
ARTICLE TOOLS http://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6517/672
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