Smithsonian to get some of the asteroid sample that NASA brought back

NASA said the sample will not contain any space microbes that could infect Earthlings.

“Due to the harsh radiation environment in space, there is no chance that the sample from Bennu could contain living organisms,” the space agency said.

A NASA capsule carrying pieces of an asteroid successfully lands in Utah

The Smithsonian said the Natural History museum, on the Mall in Washington, expects to receive two samples of the Bennu material this fall.

The first will go to the museum’s Our Unique Planet research initiative “which seeks to answer fundamental questions about the origins of life, the ocean, and the continents on Earth,” museum spokesman Ryan Lavery said in an email.

The second will go on exhibit in the museum’s Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals, he said. An unveiling date will be announced later.

On the evening of Oct. 20, 2020, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft closed in on the asteroid, which is about the size of a big city skyscraper. As it approached, the craft’s robotic arm impacted the surface, stirred up loose debris and collected some, NASA said.

The spacecraft then backed away and headed for home.

How much is in the sample is not known. Some spilled during the maneuver, but mission leaders believe they have about 8.8 ounces.

Bennu is about 4.5 billion years old and a tantalizing relic from the birth of the solar system. NASA wanted to see what it was made of. NASA also wanted to study material from an object that has an extremely remote chance of hitting the Earth in about a century or so.

The sample was taken to a special laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. There, experts will take apart the canister holding the material, remove it, inventory it and weigh it.

Some black dust and debris has already been found on part of the canister, NASA said.

“The sample will be divided out to more than 200 scientists around the world and a percentage will be saved for future generations to study,” NASA said on the platform, X, formerly known as Twitter.

The space agency said it would unveil the sample on Oct. 11 at 11 a.m.