NASA revealed its OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample earlier this month as planned, but something was missing. We got preliminary material analysis and images of the cosmic pebbles scattered around the top of the sample container, but the bulk of the sample was still locked away. Now we know why. In a brief mission update, NASA noted that the sample lid is being a real pain. Despite weeks of tinkering, the team has been unable to open the container.
When OSIRIS-REx was at the asteroid Bennu, it descended to the surface and used a puff of compressed nitrogen to launch dust and pebbles up into the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM). Most of the recovered sample is inside the sampler where it's supposed to be, but technicians were surprised to find so much regolith scattered around the avionics deck (see above).
Since getting the hardware at Johnson Space Center in Houston, the team has been working to open the main container, which is complicated by the requirement that the mission samples remain inside a glovebox with a nitrogen atmosphere. This is the best way to ensure the Earth's atmosphere does not contaminate the samples. The team has managed to remove most of the 35 fastening bolts, but two of them are stubborn.
The technicians have run through all the tools approved for use with the TAGSAM hardware. Now, NASA is developing new approaches to freeing up those last two bolts without compromising the sample's integrity.
There is some good news, though. While most of the sample is still locked away, the material collected from the top of the sample container has already surpassed the mission's goals. NASA wanted to pick up at least 60g of material from Bennu, and the exterior cache has already yielded 70.3g (2.48 oz) of rock and dust. That suggests a wealth of space rock dust is hiding inside. After sample acquisition in 2020, NASA reported that it was difficult to get the TAGSAM lid closed due to the abundance of material.
While the team continues to work on the remaining bolts, preliminary analysis on the exterior sample is ongoing. NASA reports detecting carbon compounds and water in the regolith, which means Bennu may contain the chemical necessities for life. Most of the sample from OSIRIS-REx will be stored for future work, but it sounds like NASA will have plenty to spread around. Eventually.
