<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">NASA is set to reveal on Wednesday the first images of the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space, something scientists hope will yield clues about the earliest days of our solar system and perhaps the origins of life itself.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The OSIRIS-REx mission collected rock and dust from the asteroid Bennu in 2020, and a capsule containing the precious cargo successfully returned to Earth a little over two weeks ago, landing in the Utah desert.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is now being painstakingly analyzed in a specialized clean room at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The space agency will hold a live streamed news conference at 11:00 am Eastern Time (1500 GMT) to share photographs and preliminary scientific analysis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">OSIRIS-REx wasn't the first mission to rendezvous with an asteroid and bring back samples for study -- Japan succeeded in the feat twice, returning bits of space pebbles in 2010 and 2020.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the substantial amount of material -- 250 grams (half a pound) -- as opposed to the 5.4 grams returned by Japan's Hayabusa2 -- is a key difference.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">NASA chose to sample Bennu because it is believed to be rich in organic compounds.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scientists think similar asteroids could have delivered organic building blocks to Earth along with water through collisions billions of years ago.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bennu's orbit, which intersects that of our planet, also made the roundtrip journey easier than going to the Asteroid Belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">NASA researchers have so far been heartened by the discovery of "bonus particles," described as black dust and debris coating the sample collector.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Back in October 2020, when OSIRIS-REx probe shot nitrogen gas at Bennu to collect its sample, a flap meant to seal it got wedged open with a piece of rock, allowing some of the finer material to flow out of the collector without escaping altogether.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The very best 'problem' to have is that there is so much material, it's taking longer than we expected to collect it," said deputy OSIRIS-REx curation lead Christopher Snead, in a statement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's really spectacular to have all that material there."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's thought that Bennu formed from pieces of a larger asteroid in the asteroid belt, following a massive collision between one and two billion years ago.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Data gathered by the spacecraft revealed the particles making up its exterior were so loosely packed that if a person were to step onto the surface, they might sink in, much like stepping into a pit of plastic balls.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition to scientific insights, better understanding of Bennu's composition could prove useful if humanity ever needs to steer it away.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While it has no chance of hitting Earth through the mid 2100s, the chances rise to around 1 in 1750 between then and the year 2300, NASA says. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>