Space Capsule Returns to Earth with a Cup of Samples from Asteroid 'Bennu'

A space capsule carrying the first samples from asteroid 'Bennu' landed on Sunday, October 2, after a seven-year journey in the Utah desert. The 'OSIRIS-REx' spacecraft released the capsule from a distance of one hundred thousand kilometers from Earth, and NASA expected it to land in the U.S. Army's test and training area in the Utah desert. Scientists successfully collected about a cup of dust and pebbles from 'Bennu'. Previously, Japan, the only other country to sample Bennu, returned about a teaspoon of it to Earth. NASA states that this asteroid is a remnant of the building blocks of the solar system and will help scientists gain a better understanding of how Earth and life formed. Earlier, astrophysicist Hakim Olivisi had stated that the 'OSIRIS-REx' mission would change what people know about the origin of our solar system. According to experts in a study published in 'ScienceDirect', 'Bennu' passes close to Earth every six years and has come close to colliding with Earth three times - in 1999, 2005, and 2011. OSIRIS-REx was launched seven years ago in a billion-dollar mission. Two years later, it reached 'Bennu' and three years later collected samples of its dust and pebbles. Now, OSIRIS-REx is targeting another asteroid and will visit it in six years. NASA will send the 'Bennu' samples to a new laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Texas. NASA: 'Bennu' asteroid may collide with Earth in the future. NASA: There is no evidence to prove the extraterrestrial nature of UFOs. Frank Rubio breaks the record for the longest stay of an American astronaut in space. Long stops on the Moon and Mars have been made possible; NASA has achieved technology for producing oxygen from the atmospheres of other planets. The office of the U.S. Special Representative for Iran expressed satisfaction with Yasmin Maqbali's leadership in NASA's space mission.