VOA科学技术2023--NASA’s First Asteroid Samples Arrive on Earth

NASA’s First Asteroid¹ Samples Arrive on Earth

A capsule carrying asteroid material captured in space three years ago has arrived safely on Earth.

The American space agency NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft released the capsule Sunday during a pass by Earth. A parachute floated the capsule down to the surface as it landed in a restricted military area in the Utah desert.

NASA officials said the capsule arrived as planned with no observable damage. Within two hours of landing, it was already inside a temporary clean room belonging to the U.S. Defense² Department.

The sealed container holding the samples was being flown to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. It will then be closely examined in a new, specially³ designed laboratory.

Dante Lauretta, with the University of Arizona, is the project's lead scientist. He told reporters he got so emotional after the successful sample recovery that he "broke into tears." Lauretta said his team cannot wait to start examining the material. "For me, the real science is just beginning." Lauretta will stay with the samples all the way to Texas.

NASA's planetary science director, Lori Glaze⁴, said she thinks the samples will be a "treasure" for scientific examination "for years and years to come."

Osiris-Rex began its mission in 2016. It reached Bennu, about 320 million kilometers from Earth, two years later. The spacecraft completed its asteroid sample operation in October 2020. Its robotic arm touched the asteroid Bennu for a few seconds to produce dust and rock samples for collection.

At the time, scientists said Osiris-Rex had captured much more asteroid material than they had expected. NASA reported in 2020 that some material had spilled out and floated away during the collection process.

Japan is the only other country to bring back asteroid samples from space. Those collection efforts resulted in much less material being captured. The rock and dust samples that arrived Sunday represent the largest space samples reaching Earth besides material returned by NASA in the past from the moon.

Engineers have estimated the capsule holds about 250 grams of material from Bennu. But it will likely take a few weeks to get an exact measurement, said NASA curator Nicole Lunning. NASA said it plans to discuss details about the captured samples next month.

Osiris-Rex is already on its way to another asteroid, Apophis, which it is expected to reach in 2029.

Scientists say the asteroid samples contain remains⁵ from the building blocks of our early solar system. Researchers say the samples' present-day chemistry and mineral makeup⁶ are mostly unchanged since forming about 4.5 billion years ago. This means the samples likely hold valuable data about the early development of rocky planets such as Earth.

Words in This Story

capsule – n. the part of a spacecraft that carries people and equipment

asteroid – n. objects made of rock and metal that orbit the sun, but are smaller than planets

seal – v. to fully⁷ close a container so that no air or liquid can enter or escape

sample – n. a small amount of something that gives you information about the thing it was taken from

mission – n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task

curator – n. a person who is in charge of the things in a museum or at an organization

1 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

4 glaze   

v.因疲倦、疲劳等指眼睛变得呆滞，毫无表情

参考例句：

• Brush the glaze over the top and sides of the hot cake.在热蛋糕的顶上和周围刷上一层蛋浆。
• Tang three-color glaze horses are famous for their perfect design and realism.唐三彩上釉马以其造型精美和形态生动而著名。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。