Posted on 07/10/2022 10:12:19 PM PDT by BenLurkin
NASA has revealed that while collecting samples from the asteroid Bennu in October of 2020, the spacecraft's sampler arm sank over a foot in the loosely packed surface layer, as if there was no resistance. The spacecraft narrowly avoided being swallowed by firing up its thrusters and moving away from the surface.
University of Arizona Regents Professor of Planetary Sciences, Dante Lauretta, revealed that the "particles making up Bennu's exterior are so loosely packed and lightly bound to each other that they act more like a fluid than a solid." Experts behind the mission likened the experience to jumping into a pool of hollow plastic balls.
When OSIRIS-REx — short for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, first arrived at its destination, the Bennu asteroid's surface looked more like rough terrain littered with boulders and pebbles of various sizes instead of a smooth, beach-like surface that was initially expected.
(Excerpt) Read more at slashgear.com ...
Good, real time, catch....
Not my fault
the rest of the Bennu keywords, sorted, duplicates out:
I have read that the first unmanned landing on either the Moon or Mars, the first thing the probe did was take a photo of it’s footprint, just in case it sank into the sand.
I guess nobody would read it if it didn’t have bizarre in the title.
Only a maggoty moron would use the term “disaster” for an unexpected and marvelous scientific result...
This is, actually, ranks among the major new scientific discoveries in astrophysics for the past decade...
Theorists are having perpetual wet dreams since these findings were discovered...
BAZINGA!
What is that from? looks interesting.
THE GREEN SLIME. Got it on DVD!
An early 60s science fiction story discusses the problems when a lunar surface tractor with passengers on boards gets “submerged” in a dust-filled loose sea of particles.
Seriously though, why would anybody anticipate “smooth, round, loose spheres” as an accumulated mass when gravity is barely enough to hold the clump together? There is no friction to cause either motion nor wear to break off the tiny bits and irregularities to smooth a surface! And certainly not enough pressure to melt rock.
Ruy got it right, The Green Slime... And you’ll love the crazy 60’s theme music. A Japanese production crew ( ex Toho special effects crew), what looks like an Italian movie feel, and just a low budget American produced 60’s space monster movie. And like all great movies, it’s a love story. Always point out to your date to see any movie that it’s really a love story.
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