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DEATH FROM ABOVE
Nasa probe hurtling back to Earth with crucial rocks from ‘doomsday’ Bennu asteroid that could wipe out entire cities
Harry Pettit, Senior Digital Technology and Science Reporter
12 May 2021, 12:03
A NASA spacecraft has begun a 1.4billion-mile journey back to Earth after collecting rock samples from an ancient asteroid.
The trip home for the robotic prospector, Osiris-Rex, kicked off on Monday and will take two years.
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Nasa s Osiris-Rex probe is returning to Earth with a belly full of space rocksCredit: nasa
With rubble from an asteroid tucked inside, a NASA spacecraft fired its engines and began the long journey back to Earth on Monday, leaving the ancient space rock in its rearview mirror.
05-12-2021
This illustration provided by NASA depicts the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft at the asteroid Bennu. (Conceptual Image Lab/Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA via AP)
After five years in space, a NASA spacecraft is on its way back to Earth after collecting dust and rocks from the asteroid Bennu.
Osiris-Rex reached asteroid Bennu in 2018 and spent two years flying near and around it, before collecting rubble from the surface last fall.
The University of Arizona s Dante Lauretta, the principal scientist, estimates the spacecraft holds between a half pound and 1 pound (200 grams and 400 grams) of mostly bite-size chunks. Either way, it easily exceeds the target of at least 2 ounces (60 grams).