NASA can’t seem to open the key part of its Bennu asteroid sample

NASA unveiled findings from one of the "most hazardous known asteroids" earlier this month, but have since revealed they're struggling to lift the lid on parts of the famed Bennu sample, quite literally.

The sample from the OSIRIS-REx’s mission made a safe landing on Sunday 24 September, when scientists were heard gasping while opening up the capsule.

On October 11, the space agency shared its findings with the world, with one of the main talking points being signs of water and carbon on the sample through hydrated clay minerals that contain carbon.

"At nearly 5 per cent carbon by weight, carbon being the central element of life, far exceeding our goal of 60g, this is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever returned to earth," administrator Bill Nelson said, adding that it was "exactly the kind of material that we wanted to find."

Sample collected from asteroid Bennu unveiled Fox - 10 Phoenix / VideoElephant

However, NASA is seemingly having issues trying to open the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) as it's simply sealed too well. It has 35 fasteners – two of which cannot be removed with the current tools approved for use in the glovebox.

The TAGSAM must be opened in a special glovebox under a flow of nitrogen to avoid contamination. Inside the container is around 250 grams of asteroid dirt to be analysed.

Previously speaking about working through a glove box to analyse the sample, Francis McCubbin, astronomical curator at NASA's Johnson Space Centre said: "[It is] "hard, challenging work, and it does not go quickly, but we need to do this right".

The samples will be preserved so that "scientists that aren't even born yet are going to have the opportunity to answer questions about our universe with these samples using technology that has not even been invented."

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.