A Nasa spacecraft has begun the long journey back to Earth after taking rubble from a distant asteroid. It reached asteroid Bennu in 2018 and spent two years flying near and around it, before collecting rubble from the surface last autumn. #ToBennuAndBack pic.twitter.com/BmaK1dkPDB — NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) May 10, 2021While Nasa has returned comet dust and solar wind samples, this is the first time it has gone after pieces of an asteroid. Bennu — considered a broken chunk from a bigger asteroid — is believed to hold the preserved building blocks of the solar system. Scientists initially thought the spacecraft stored 2lb of asteroid rubble, but more recently revised their estimate downwards.

Source: Irish Independent May 10, 2021 21:07 UTC