A NASA spacecraft descended to an asteroid
Tuesday and, dodging boulders the size of
buildings, momentarily touched the surface
to collect a handful of cosmic rubble for return
to Earth.
It was a first for the United States — only Japan
has scored asteroid samples.
“Touchdown declared,” a flight controller
announced to cheers and applause. “Sampling is
in progress.”
Confirmation came from the Osiris-Rex
spacecraft as it made contact with the surface
of the asteroid Bennu more than 200 million
miles away. But it could be a week before
scientists know how much, if much of anything,
was grabbed and whether another try will be
needed. If successful, Osiris-Rex will return the
samples in 2023.