Capsule containing asteroid fragments lands back on earth
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English - September 24, 2023 18:24 - 6 minutes - 5.95 MB - ★★★★ - 11 ratingsNews Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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A capsule containing fragments of the asteroid Bennu landed in a remote part of the Utah desert.
The container which was jettisoned from the space probe O-SIRUS REx landed safely in the desert at 03:52 Monday morning.
It entered Earth's atmosphere at 44,500 kilometres an hour.
The capsule's journey began seven years ago, when it left Earth, taking a sample from the asteroid in 2020, before returning back to Earth Monday morning.
University of Canterbury planetary astronomer Michele Bannister spoke to Corin Dann.