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NASA space probe leaks asteroid samples after falling victim to its own success

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It was almost a success when space missions took place.

This week, NASA launched its Osiris-Rex spacecraft to Benu , An asteroid the size of a school building 200 million miles from Earth, allows scientists to collect samples they hope to study one day.

But during the 16-second space feed, Osiris-Rex collected a lot of material, allowing the rocks to flow into space as its container door was left open.

NASA’s Science Associate Administrator Thomas Surbuchen told reporters that time was “essential” as they struggled to block more valuable evidence from the ship.


He said the mission teams would avoid the opportunity to measure how much material they had collected as originally planned.

Instead, they go to the stove stage, which is the weak process of getting the sample collection container to a safe place inside the spacecraft without losing valuables.

NASA says it has canceled its planned second asteroid and plans to return to Earth in 2023 instead.

Osiris-Rex philosopher Dante Loretta said the experiment could not be better, “We are the victims of our success here.”

The $ 800 million minivan-built Osiris-Rex spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, was launched in 2016 to capture and return a U.S. sample of the first asteroid. Another country that has achieved this is Japan.

Asteroids are one of the remnants of the formation of the Solar System 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists say a sample could give clues about the origin of life on Earth.

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