NASA scientists have made an "astonishing" discovery about Bennu, the asteroid from which its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected a sample of rock and dust in 2020.
NASA scientists have made what they describe as an "astonishing" discovery about Bennu, the asteroid from which its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected a sample of rock and dust in 2020. The space agency said this week that it turns out that the particles that make up Bennu's exterior much more loosely bound than expected. In fact, if you walked on them, there would be hardly any resistance, "as if stepping into a pit of plastic balls that are popular play areas for kids." NASA revealed the discovery this week after analyzing data gathered during the spacecraft's brief touchdown on the asteroid two years ago. As the video below shows, the spacecraft landed on the asteroid before causing an explosion to enable it to gather material. Nine seconds after making contact, the spacecraft fired its thrusters to push it away from the rock below, but NASA said if it hadn't done so it "would have sunk into Bennu." Scientists first understood that Bennu may have a loosely bound surface…