Nebula Navigation

The OSIRIS-REx mission's precious cargo is more than just space rocks—it's a time capsule containing the very building blocks that may have sparked life on Earth. Image Link: https://assets.science.nasa.gov/dynamicimage/assets/science/psd/solar/internal_resources/5264/Asteroid_Bennu-1.jpeg?w=800&h=600&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint The Moment of Discovery On September 24, 2023, a charred capsule no larger than a truck tire streaked across the dawn sky over Utah, deploying a parachute to gently settle onto the desert floor. Inside wasn't a man-made device, but a cosmic treasure: about 250 grams of dark dust and pebbles, collected from the surface of an asteroid named Bennu, over 200 million miles away. This triumphant end to NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission was just the beginning of the story. Months later, after scientists meticulously pried open the stubborn sample canister, their initial analysis revealed something extraordinary. This wasn't just generic sp...