OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return canister

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OSIRIS-REx (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) asteroid sample return canister, with particles (black, centre-right) from Bennu a near-Earth asteroid. The OSIRIS-REx mission was launched on 8th September 2016, and dropped this capsule on 24th September 2023. It is hoped that the sample, which contains water and carbon thought to date to the formation of the solar system billion years ago, will give insight into the early solar system and the origins of life on Earth. Photographed at Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA.

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Size: 6827px × 5120px
Location:
Photo credit: © NASA, Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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