NASA shows off first sample from asteroid Bennu

(11 Oct 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4457868

++ON-SCREEN GRAPHICS AT SOURCE++
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NASA - MUST CREDIT NASA
Houston, Texas - 11 October 2023
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator: ++PARTIALLY COVERED++
"So the first analysis shows samples that contain abundant water in the form of hydrated clay minerals and they contain carbon, and you can see the carbon there, as both minerals and organic molecules. And at nearly five percent carbon by weight, carbon being the central element of life, far exceeding our goal of 60 grams. The is the biggest carbon rich asteroid sample ever returned to earth."

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Location and Date unknown
2. STILL of asteroid sample
++BLACK FRAMES++

NASA - MUST CREDIT NASA
Houston, Texas - 11 October 2023
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dante Lauretta, Osiris-Rex Lead Investigator:
"The first panel there in the upper left, those are the water bearing clay minerals and they have this fibrous kind of structure. We call this serpentine because they look like serpents or snakes inside the sample. And they have water locked inside their crystal structure."

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Location and Date unknown
4. STILL of microscope view of asteroid sample

STORYLINE:
NASA on Wednesday showed off its first asteroid samples delivered last month by a spacecraft — the most ever returned to Earth.

Scientists and space agency leaders took part in the reveal at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The ancient black dust and chunks are from the carbon-rich asteroid named Bennu, almost 60 million miles away. NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft collected the samples three years ago and then dropped them off sealed in a capsule during a flyby of Earth last month.

Scientists anticipated at least a cupful of rocks, far more than what Japan brought back from a pair of missions years ago. They’re still not sure about the exact quantity. That’s because the main sample chamber has yet to be opened, officials said.

Black dust and particles were scattered around the outside edge of the chamber, according to Lauretta.

Besides carbon, the asteroid rubble holds water in the form of water-bearing clay minerals, said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

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