Daily Current Affairs 25 September 2023 – IAS Current Affairs

Current Affairs 25 September 2023 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :

NASA’s Osiris-Rex

Source: Space
GS III: Scinec and Technology

Overview

Why in the News?

NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft successfully delivered its asteroid samples to Earth, ending a seven-year mission.

From finding traces of carbon dioxide and methane on an alien planet to discovering tiny jellyfish that can learn from experience, find all the latest news, discoveries and findings that happened in the field of science this week.
Debris from an alien world will land on the Earth on September 24.
NASA’s asteroid-hunting spacecraft OSIRIS-REx – short for Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer – will drop a capsule containing pristine asteroid material in the Utah desert.
OSIRIS-REx, which is currently winging its way towards the earth after a close encounter with Bennu, a near-earth asteroid (NEA), “is a cosmic detective.”
Many scientists believe that along with comets, carbon-rich asteroids like Bennu may have seeded the earth with primordial life as they smashed into the young planet more than four billion years ago.

OSIRIS-Rex (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) was NASA’s first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid, survey its surface and collect samples from it.
The spacecraft briefly touched asteroid Bennu, from where it collected samples of dust and pebbles.
Bennu is considered to be an ancient asteroid
- It has not gone through a lot of composition-altering change through billions of years.
- This means that below its surface lies chemicals and rocks from the birth of our solar system.
Therefore, scientists and researchers are interested in studying this asteroid as it might give them some clues about the origins of the solar system, the sun, the Earth and various other planets.

The sample capsule was released from the spacecraft during a flyby of Earth, landing in the Utah desert four hours later.
The capsule is believed to contain at least a cup of rubble from the carbon-rich asteroid Bennu, but the exact amount won’t be confirmed until it’s opened.
Japan is the only other country to have successfully brought back asteroid samples, gathering about a teaspoon’s worth in two missions.
These samples represent the largest haul of material from beyond the moon and will provide valuable insights into the formation of our solar system and Earth.

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