Posted on 10/12/2020 4:42:47 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: What would it be like to land on an asteroid? Although no human has yet done it, NASA's robotic OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to attempt to touch the surface of asteroid 101955 Bennu next week. The goal is to collect a sample from the nearby minor planet for return to Earth for a detailed analysis in 2023. The featured video shows what it looks like to descend toward the 500-meter diamond-shaped asteroid, based on a digital map of Bennu's rocky surface constructed from image and surface data taken by OSIRIS-REx over the past 1.5 years. The video begins by showing a rapidly spinning Bennu -- much faster than its real rotation period of 4.3 hours. After the rotation stops, the virtual camera drops you down to just above the rugged surface and circles a house-sized rock outcrop named Simurgh, with the flatter outcrop Roc visible behind it. If the return sample reaches Earth successfully, it will be scrutinized for organic compounds that might have seeded a young Earth, rare or unusual elements and minerals, and clues about the early history of our Solar System.
It happens to me all the time - you hit a wrong key somehow, and everything gets screwed-up - or disappears.
Well thanks
Can’t imagine when that happened.
now you got it
How the earth was formed bit by bit. Tiny grains become pebbles become rocks become boulders till earth sized etc. Add some heat and you got a planet.
I thought the theory was that the heat came first. Hot radioactive gasses, coalescing into radioactive particles, coalescing into molten masses, coalescing into one large molten orb which then cooled on the surface into rock with a molten interior.
Oh, like a Snipe Hunt.
Looks like Oklahoma.
What a remarkable image. This is obviously not a “body” that one can just push or lasso and drag off somewhere to be mined...
Also, each piece looks like it had a violent creation. If the asteroids mostly came from a shattered planet, it REALLY shattered.
Further... Note all the sharp edges. This surface looks (relatively) ...young???
Very cool and the video is worth a look too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.