Earth Return & Sample Science Options

[Marcin600]

The dust collected on the cover weighs approximately 1.5 grams. They haven't weighed the "mylar flap pebbles" yet. The entire sample is still estimated at approximately 250 grams.

[Marcin600]

Some more shots of Bennu material that escaped TAGSAM - from NASA TV:

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[MahFL]

Literally looks like coal.

[Explorer1]

Yes, just with tiny little white particles here and there....
One of the panelists noted the fractal appearance compared with the images of Bennu from the surface, and it's very obvious in these stills.

[Bill Harris]

Literally looks like coal.

And actually doesn't resemble coal. This is a low-albedo carbonaceous material.

--Bill

[Bill Harris]

Yes, just with tiny little white particles here and there....
One of the panelists noted the fractal appearance compared with the images of Bennu from the surface, and it's very obvious in these stills.

"Fractal appearance". Yes! Accreted (condensed??) from a primordial solar nebula, it does have a random-yet-organized nature.

--Bill

[Marcin600]

Dante Lauretta also mentioned 2 types of rocks visible on the surface of Bennu: 1) lighter, smooth, more compact and seem more durable, and 2) darker, rough, "conglomerate" and more brittle, and that these 2 types of rocks can even be seen in this small Bennu sample in the picture - he mentioned that in frame E two pebbles next to each other probably belong to these 2 types of rocks (the numbers in the picture are my addition):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFvIuSpACQA - 42:53

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[Explorer1]

Container will be opened in 2 weeks, according to the telecon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2asm3j9RV3E

[Marcin600]

In this NASA Goddard Space Flight Center photo album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/, already mentioned on the forum, there is a high resolution picture of dust and small crumbs on the lid around TAGSAM shown during the conference:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/53251699726/
Credit: Dante Lauretta
CC license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

I am attaching some cut out and enlarged Bennu "pebbles".

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[Marcin600]

There is also a small blue particle among the dust from Bennu - it clearly comes from the sampler itself or something put into the glovebox by people. This shows that researchers must carefully separate all "terrestrial artifacts" from this "bonus" Bennu material.
From the same photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/53251699726/
Credit: Dante Lauretta
CC license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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[Marcin600]

Here you can see (I added arrows) how Bennu dust covers various difficult nooks and crannies on the outside of TAGSAM - collecting it all is not easy: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/53250789352/
Credit: NASA
CC license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/


And here you can see the way they collect dust and pebbles: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/53250789327/
Credit: NASA
CC license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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[Marcin600]

Here is a bit about the results of preliminary analyzes of the "bonus" material from Bennu.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-ben...s-carbon-water/

Unfortunately, high-resolution pictures of the crumbs from the mylar flap have not been published yet

[Bill Harris]

There is also a small blue particle among the dust from Bennu - it clearly comes from the sampler itself or something put into the glovebox by people. This shows that researchers must carefully separate all "terrestrial artifacts" from this "bonus" Bennu material.
From the same photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/53251699726/
Credit: Dante Lauretta
CC license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Remember, the Bennu regolith is not "pristine". It is composed of fragments of Bennu as it is being abraded by meteors, fragments of meteors, fragments of asteroids, and fragments of planets and satellites. To get pristine material you would need to clean off an area down to 'bedrock' and collect samples of the undisturbed bedrock.

--Bill

[Julius]

So Bennu is a carbon rich near Earth asteroid and yet it is supposed to be pristine meaning that it has remained relatively unaltered since it's formation? Is a Carbon rich asteroid meant to have formed in this region in the early Solar system given that Earth is considered to be a carbon poor planet? If Bennu is carbon rich and thus may have formed in an outer region and now sits as a near Earth asteroid, how can one say it has remained pristine throughout the 4.5billion lifespan of the solar system ?

[nprev]

ADMIN NOTE: The debate over the definition of the word 'pristine' is now over. Nobody won.

Onward.