Say Hello to My Little TAGSAM

[Recusant]

I don't think anything much has been posted here about the OSIRIS-REx mission. It was launched back in 2016. Its objective: To rendezvous with asteroid Bennu, make observations, take samples, and then send the samples back to Earth.

A couple of days ago OSIRIS-REx made its first sampling run, and the TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) appears to have worked according to specifications. Below is a video showing a series of images taken by OSIRIS-REx during its first close encounter with Bennu.

You will note the demonic face in the upper right of the still image. Bennu is clearly the abode of vicious space ghosts. 

"OSIRIS-REx TAGs Surface of Asteroid Bennu" | NASA

The sampling event brought the spacecraft all the way down to sample site Nightingale, touching down within three feet (one meter) of the targeted location. The team on Earth received confirmation at 6:08 p.m. EDT that successful touchdown occurred. Preliminary data show the one-foot-wide (0.3-meter-wide) sampling head touched Bennu's surface for approximately 6 seconds, after which the spacecraft performed a back-away burn.

[Continues . . .]

[Magdalena]

...

You will note the demonic face in the upper right of the still image. Bennu is clearly the abode of vicious space ghosts. 

"OSIRIS-REx TAGs Surface of Asteroid Bennu" | NASA

The sampling event brought the spacecraft all the way down to sample site Nightingale, touching down within three feet (one meter) of the targeted location. The team on Earth received confirmation at 6:08 p.m. EDT that successful touchdown occurred. Preliminary data show the one-foot-wide (0.3-meter-wide) sampling head touched Bennu's surface for approximately 6 seconds, after which the spacecraft performed a back-away burn.

[Continues . . .]

Very cool story.

[xSilverPhinx]

Good title!

[Recusant]

The mission has returned its sample!

"NASA's Bennu Asteroid Sample Contains Carbon, Water" | NASA

Initial studies of the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu sample collected in space and brought to Earth by NASA show evidence of high-carbon content and water, which together could indicate the building blocks of life on Earth may be found in the rock. NASA made the news Wednesday from its Johnson Space Center in Houston where leadership and scientists showed off the asteroid material for the first time since it landed in September.

This finding was part of a preliminary assessment of NASA's OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) science team.

[. . .]

The goal of the OSIRIS-REx sample collection was 60 grams of asteroid material. Curation experts at NASA Johnson, working in new clean rooms built especially for the mission, have spent 10 days so far carefully disassembling the sample return hardware to obtain a glimpse at the bulk sample within. When the science canister lid was first opened, scientists discovered bonus asteroid material covering the outside of the collector head, canister lid, and base. There was so much extra material it slowed down the careful process of collecting and containing the primary sample.

"Our labs were ready for whatever Bennu had in store for us," said Vanessa Wyche, director, NASA Johnson. "We've had scientists and engineers working side-by-side for years to develop specialized gloveboxes and tools to keep the asteroid material pristine and to curate the samples so researchers now and decades from now can study this precious gift from the cosmos."

Within the first two weeks, scientists performed "quick-look" analyses of that initial material, collecting images from a scanning electron microscope, infrared measurements, X-ray diffraction, and chemical element analysis. X-ray computed tomography was also used to produce a 3D computer model of one of the particles, highlighting its diverse interior. This early glimpse provided the evidence of abundant carbon and water in the sample.

"As we peer into the ancient secrets preserved within the dust and rocks of asteroid Bennu, we are unlocking a time capsule that offers us profound insights into the origins of our solar system," said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator, University of Arizona, Tucson. "The bounty of carbon-rich material and the abundant presence of water-bearing clay minerals are just the tip of the cosmic iceberg. These discoveries, made possible through years of dedicated collaboration and cutting-edge science, propel us on a journey to understand not only our celestial neighborhood but also the potential for life's beginnings. With each revelation from Bennu, we draw closer to unraveling the mysteries of our cosmic heritage."

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[Tank]

Very, very interesting

[Recusant]

There is already a small sample from Bennu displayed at the Smithsonian Museum. The collection chamber from OSIRIS-REx has not even been opened yet--there was apparently enough material outside it to begin work on analysis. The article doesn't have a lot of new information, but I found that detail noteworthy.

"In US capital, selfies with asteroid hinting at Earth's origins" | Phys.org

[Tank]

Love, love, love!

[Recusant]

Per our earlier "On Your Mind" conversation about the sample container from this mission-- there's an update.

"Stuck in space traffic? Nah, it was just a stuck lid! NASA finally cracks open monumental asteroid sample" | StudyFinds

The disassembly process of the TAGSAM head hit a brick wall in mid-October when NASA couldn't remove those final two fasteners. Scientists had to create two new multi-part tools just to finish the job. These tools are made from a specific grade of surgical, non-magnetic stainless steel, the hardest metal allowed in the sterile curation gloveboxes.

"In addition to the design challenge of being limited to curation-approved materials to protect the scientific value of the asteroid sample, these new tools also needed to function within the tightly confined space of the glovebox, limiting their height, weight and potential arc movement," explains Nicole Lunning, OSIRIS-REx curator at Johnson. "The curation team showed impressive resilience and did incredible work to get these stubborn fasteners off the TAGSAM head so we can continue disassembly. We are overjoyed with the success."

Despite the four-month delay in cracking open this potentially priceless space container, the team has already collected 70.3 grams of asteroid material, exceeding NASA's goal of 60 grams. Some of this sample has been sealed for long-term preservation, with parts stored at room temperature and others at -112 degrees Fahrenheit.

Scientists at the University of Arizona's Kuiper-Arizona Laboratory for Astromaterials Analysis have begun examining some of the pristine extraterrestrial material. Additionally, later this spring, a catalog of the OSIRIS-REx samples will be released to the global scientific community, marking another exciting phase in this groundbreaking mission.

I wasn't able to find a more detailed description of the tools they developed to get the container opened, which is the sort of thing I know many of the current members would be interested in. 

[Dark Lightning]

Can't tell much from the fuzzy pic, but it looks like a Phillips bit in the tool. If so, it's probably a pozi-drive head. Those are a bitch to unscrew. It looks like the head probably partially stripped and they made a clamp to keep the driver from climbing when attempting to turn the screw.

[billy rubin]

why would tbey use any cross-head fastener instead of a torx head?

was the self-centering feature more important than possible cam-out?

[Dark Lightning]

Like I said, I'm not sure what they used. I'd like to think that they used a fastener with a head that facilitates removal. It costs roughly $1k per gram to launch a spacecraft. Fasteners with pozi-drive weigh less than the ones with Torx. Not a whole lot, but potentially enough. The fact that they had to develop a tool makes me think that a hex drive head of some sort was not used.

[billy rubin]

apparently