Sampling an Asteroid to Understand the Birth of Our Planet

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Sampling an Asteroid to Understand the Birth of Our Planet

Tuesday, April 27 at 8 pm ET, discover how we sampled an asteroid — and what we hope to learn when the samples return to Earth, featuring Smithsonian geologist Tim McCoy. Register: https://s.si.edu/30QkFMH Last year, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission accomplished something not done in nearly 50 years by a U.S. space mission — sampling the surface of another planetary body for return to Earth. In this talk, you'll hear about the 15 year odyssey of proposing, building, and launching OSIRIS-REx, leading up to a year-long orbital mission and the moment OSIRIS-REx sampled the surface of asteroid Bennu. As we wait for the return of these samples in 2023, you’ll hear from National Museum of Natural History geologist Tim McCoy about how these samples may hold the key to understanding the formation of Earth, providing the raw materials for life and oceans.  The Exploring Space Lecture Series is made possible by the generous support of Aerojet Rocketdyne and United Launch Alliance.

55 min 5 sec

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