
Copernical Team
First long-duration Lidar satellite mission CALIPSO Ends

Chandra rewinds story of Great Eruption of the 1840s

Heating and cooling space habitats isn't easy

ISS National Lab and Privateer announce Data and Information Sharing Partnership

Study sheds new light on strange lava worlds

Alien Machines in the Solar System: The Possibilities and Potential Origins

Possible hints of life found on distant planet - how excited should we be?

JWST's first spectrum of a TRAPPIST-1 planet

The OSIRIS-REx sample canister lid is removed

Likely asteroid debris found upon opening of returned NASA probe

After a seven-year wait, NASA scientists on Tuesday finally pried open a space probe carrying the largest asteroid samples ever brought back to Earth, finding black debris.
Researchers "found black dust and debris on the avionics deck of the OSIRIS-REx science canister when the initial lid was removed today," the US space agency said, though without specifying whether they definitely belonged to the asteroid.
Scientists are eagerly awaiting researching the bulk of the sample, which will require "intricate disassembly" of the probe.
OSIRIS-REx launched in 2016, landing on the asteroid Bennu and collected roughly nine ounces (250 grams) of dust from its rocky surface.
Even that small amount, NASA has said, should "help us better understand the types of asteroids that could threaten Earth."
It ended its 3.86-billion-mile (6.21-billion-kilometer) journey after touching down in the desert in the western state of Utah on Sunday, following a high-stakes, fiery descent through Earth's atmosphere.