Overview

• NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has exceeded its asteroid sample collection target, retrieving 70.3 grams of material from asteroid Bennu, surpassing the original target of 60 grams.
• The team has faced challenges in opening the mission's primary sample container, the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), due to tool limitations. Two of its 35 fasteners could not be removed with the current tools available.
• The asteroid samples are being processed in a specialized glovebox with a nitrogen flow to prevent exposure to Earth's atmosphere and potential contamination.
• Initial analysis of the collected material indicates high carbon content and water. Further study of these samples could provide insights into the origins of life on Earth.
• Although NASA continues to face extraction challenges, the agency plans to create new methods to access the remaining samples in the TAGSAM without compromising their scientific integrity