OSIRIS-Rex probe delivers asteroid samples to Earth, but scientists can't open container

This fall, NASA scientists celebrated a victory: the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully brought back samples from the asteroid Bennu to Earth. However, several months have passed, and scientists are still facing the challenge of opening the sample capsule.

Back in October, it was reported that scientists were unable to simply open the main container. Specifically, it was mentioned that a couple of the 35 fasteners could not be removed by conventional means, just like the rest. Almost two months have passed since then, and there is still no result.

Scientists cannot just forcefully open the lid, as it would lead to significant contamination of the asteroid samples. Currently, NASA specialists are working on the development and testing of new tools that will allow the extraction of samples from the capsule safely and without contaminating the material. Additionally, constraints are imposed by the sample return capsule's small size, and work inside it is done through integrated thick gloves. Scientists expect to successfully open the stubborn capsule within the next quarter.

It is also worth noting that even before opening the capsule, scientists have managed to collect a substantial amount of material that got stuck in the external parts of the capsule during the asteroid sample collection. The original mission goal was to collect at least 60 grams of rock, and at present, scientists have exceeded that amount.