NASA的OSIRIS-REx研究团队展示了剩余的小行星样本

A top-down view of the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism (TAGSAM) head with the lid removed, revealing the remainder of the asteroid sample inside.
Photo: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold

The astromaterials curation team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston has completed the disassembly of the OSIRIS-REx sampler head to reveal the remainder of the asteroid Bennu sample inside. On Jan. 10, they successfully removed two stubborn fasteners that had prevented the final steps of opening the Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism (TAGSAM) head.

Erika Blumenfeld, creative lead for the Advanced Imaging and Visualization of Astromaterials (AIVA) and Joe Aebersold, AIVA project lead, captured this photograph of the open TAGSAM head including the asteroid material inside using manual high-resolution precision photography and a semi-automated focus stacking procedure. The result is an image that shows extreme detail of the sample.

Next, the curation team will remove the round metal collar and prepare the glovebox to transfer the remaining sample from the TAGSAM head into pie-wedge sample trays.

These trays will be photographed before the sample is weighed, packaged, and stored at Johnson, home to the most extensive collection of astromaterials in the world. The remaining sample material includes dust and rocks up to about 0.4 inch (one cm) in size. The final mass of the sample will be determined in the coming weeks. The curation team members had already collected 2.48 ounces (70.3 grams) of asteroid material from the sample hardware before the lid was removed, surpassing the agency’s goal of bringing at least 2.12 ounces (60 grams) to Earth.

The curation team will release a catalog of all the Bennu samples later this year, which will allow scientists and institutions around the world to submit requests for research or display.

Download high-resolution image here

OSIRIS-REx稍触即离采样头（TAGSAM）的俯视图，盖子已被移除，露出了内部的剩余小行星样本。
摄影: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold

位于休斯顿的NASA约翰逊航天中心的天体材料管理团队已经完成了对OSIRIS-REx采样头的拆卸，以展示采样头内部的小行星贝努样本的剩余部分。1月10日，他们成功拆除了两个顽固的紧固件，这两个紧固件阻止了打开稍触即离采样头（TAGSAM）头部的最后步骤。

天体材料高级成像和可视化（AIVA）创意负责人艾丽卡·布鲁门菲尔德和AIVA项目负责人乔·埃伯塞尔使用手动高分辨率精密摄影和半自动焦点叠加程序拍摄了这张打开的TAGSAM头部照片，包括内部的小行星材料。结果是一张显示样本极端细节的图像。

接下来，管理团队将移除圆形金属环并准备手套箱，以将剩余样品从TAGSAM头转移到扇形样品托盘中。

这些托盘将在样品称重、包装和储存在约翰逊航天中心之前进行拍照，约翰逊航天中心是世界上最广泛的天体材料收藏地。剩余的样品材料包括大小达约0.4英寸（1厘米）的尘埃和岩石。样品的最终质量将在未来几周内确定。在盖子被取下之前，策展团队成员已经从样品硬件中收集了2.48盎司（70.3克）的小行星材料，超过了该机构将至少2.12盎司（60克）带到地球的目标。

管理团队将于今年晚些时候发布所有贝努样本的目录，这将允许世界各地的科学家和机构提交研究或展示的请求。

在此下载高分辨率图像