Sky & Telescope - July 2024 - 24

Missions
IN THE LAB Curation scientists work on the OSIRIS-REX sample canister. First they collected asteroid dust from the canister's base (left), then they
worked to open the canister itself. Stuck screws required the creation of a special stainless-steel tool (right) in order to open the canister and access
the long-awaited samples.
well, and the white bits turn out to be mostly phosphate,
which is quite rare. " They're still trying to work out why
Bennu has so much of the stuff, she adds. " It probably
formed by the action of water. "
Scientists know that Bennu's rocks were transformed by
hydrothermal activity early in solar system history, thanks
to the spacecraft's observations during its visit. But putting
the pieces together to fully understand what all this means
will take time.
" We're at this new era of things exploding in samplereturn
missions, " says Russell. " I think in 200 or 300 years'
time, these are going to be so precious, because they're going
to be used to answer questions that we can't even think
about. "
China's Lunar Sample-Return Program
China has also been busy in the sample-return game with the
Chang'e program (named after the Chinese Moon goddess).
In late 2020, Chang'e 5 became the country's first all-in-one
sample-return mission, featuring an orbiter, lander, ascent
vehicle, and sample-return capsule. From launch at Wenchang
Space Launch Site, to landing at the Mons Rümker site
on the Moon, to the capsule's landing in Inner Mongolia, the
Chang'e 5 mission took only 23 days to complete. It returned
Safekeeping
Decades after their return, Apollo
samples are still providing scientific
insights (S&T: Aug. 2018, p. 26). While
some samples were studied immediately,
others were preserved for later study
with future technology. The curators at
NASA's Astromaterials Research and
Exploration Science (ARES) division in
Texas are anticipating future analysis
techniques as well as new material returned
by the crewed Artemis missions.
" Our role here is really to take care
of the samples, and for the last couple
years a lot of that has been preparation
for the samples [from OSIRIS-REX], "
says Nicole Lunning (NASA ARES). " We
are focused on making sure that we prevent
all contamination that we possibly
can before it gets to them. "
Because organics are such an
important part of the scientific return
for OSIRIS-REX, curators have added
additional constraints to protect the lab
as well as the sample, says Lunning.
" There was careful contamination control
throughout its assembly and testing
so that the spacecraft wasn't exposed
to unknown organics " in the lab.
In addition to NASA's ARES and
JAXA's Extraterrestrial Sample Curation
Center for Hayabusa material
(mentioned in the main text), other sites
worldwide that maintain and study
extraterrestrial material include China's
Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center
and Russia's Vernadsky Institute of
Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry
in Moscow. Canada is developing a curation
facility for its share of the OSIRISREX
sample at the John H. Chapman
Space Centre in Saint-Hubert, Quebec.
French and German scientists are also
planning their own facilities.
CURATION CENTERS Scientists preserve
and study samples from other worlds at several
centers (blue labels), and they're developing
more facilities (white).
24 JULY 2024 * SKY & TELESCOPE
LEFT: NASA; RIGHT: ROBERT MARKOWITZ / NASA JSC

Sky & Telescope - July 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - July 2024