NASA

The TAGSAM mechanism's head

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NASA has announced that the first visual inspection of the OSIRIS-REx space probe’s TAGSAM system, which captured soil samples from asteroid Bennu in the night between 21 and 22 October, has done its job well. In fact, the problem appears to be that the mechanism captured far too many materials and, after OSIRIS-REx moved away from Bennu, they started escaping. For this reason, the mission team decided to skip the various operations that would have allowed more significant examinations of the samples to try to seal them in the Sample Return Capsule to bring them back to Earth.

Chris Cassidy, Anatoly Ivanishin e Ivan Vagner (Photo NASA)

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A few hours ago, astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner returned to Earth on the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft, that landed in Kazakhstan. The three of them spent a bit more than 6 months on the International Space Station, where they arrived on April 9, 2020 as part of Expedition 62. After landing, they were assisted by a skeleton crew with the precautions needed to avoid the risk of Covid-19 infection.

Artist's concept of OSIRIS-REx descending to Bennu's surface (Image NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona)

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A few hours ago NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space probe descended to the surface of the asteroid Bennu to take soil samples in what was called TAG (Touch-And-Go). The selected area is in a crater that was named Nightingale with a diameter of about 16 meters in Bennu’s northern hemisphere. The operation was carried out fully automatically because there’s an 18.5 minute delay in communications due to the fact that OSIRIS-REx is about 334 million kilometers from Earth. If the result is satisfactory, this part of the mission will be over.

The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft docking with the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A few hours ago the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and after a little more than three hours reached the International Space Station with three astronauts on board: Kate Rubins, Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. For the first time, the ultra-fast route was used which halves the journey duration. In the period preceding a launch, it’s normal for astronauts and cosmonauts to remain in quarantine. In this case it was also extended to the personnel who managed the launch, with limits to the people who could have been in Baikonur.