“NASA paid me a billion dollars to prevent asteroids from falling to Earth.”

The most dangerous rock in our solar system is the asteroid Bennu. Its diameter is about the height of the Empire State Building, and its mass is equivalent to that of an aircraft carrier. It reflects only a small portion of the sunlight that falls on its surface, and it is one of the darkest objects in our solar system, with most asteroids reflecting five times as much light.

On September 24, 2182, if humanity does not take preventive measures and the bizarre scenario of misaligning its orbit, asteroid Bennu could hit the Earth's surface at Mach 36, or 43,452 kilometers per hour, like a giant train crashing into our Earth. planet.

In this eventuality, humanity will face a terrifying dilemma: either begin planning to evacuate a vast area of ​​the planet, or send… a task To divert the asteroid from its path. Regardless, we must learn everything we can about Bennu until then.

Dante Lauretta: “NASA paid me a billion dollars to prevent an asteroid from falling to Earth.”

“In 2011, NASA He cost me a billion dollars to make it happen. The mission will involve not only sending a spacecraft to the asteroid, but also returning part of it to Earth,” Dante Lauretta wrote in the Daily Mail.

Dante Lauretta led the first American mission to collect a sample from an asteroid. In his new book, The Asteroid Hunter, Laurita recounts for the first time in detail what happened on the mission.

Bennu was discovered on September 11, 1999, by scientists at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, an organization whose mission is to monitor the skies, searching for potential threats from both alien nations and the void between stars.

It immediately intrigued scientists because its dark surface indicates a carbon-rich composition, meaning it is a rare type of asteroid that could provide a wealth of information about the essential ingredients for life and the conditions for a habitable world.

Billions of years ago, asteroids like Bennu may have carried the chemical elements that make up the biomolecules in our cells, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.

Today, scientists are interested in albino and the great danger it poses.

If it hits Earth, its orbit will “illuminate” the atmosphere more intensely than the midday sun. The collision would release an energy blast equivalent to 1,450 megatons of TNT. For example, the total energy consumed during all nuclear tests in history is estimated at 510 megatons.

A Bennu crash would triple that number in an instant. According to some opinions, the Earth will not be greatly affected by this event: its orbit and axis will not be affected. In other respects – and perhaps most importantly – the consequences could be disastrous.

Bennu's impact would have created a crater 6.4 kilometers wide and 800 meters deep. It would trigger a 6.7 magnitude earthquake.

About 15 seconds after impact, areas tens of kilometers from the crater will see an air blast caused by Bennu's supersonic passage through the atmosphere and releasing massive amounts of energy at the surface. The winds will be 20 times stronger than a Category 5 hurricane.

The sound wave would be louder than an orchestra of air raid sirens blasting together from every direction.

Curious onlookers rushed to their windows to catch a glimpse of the fireball, being showered with shards as the glass shattered inward.

Houses will be flattened, and a few survivors will be selected based on their location and luck. Office buildings and highway bridges will warp and eventually collapse. Trees will be uprooted, while trees that have somehow managed to stay standing will lose their branches and leaves.

Another 15 seconds later – less than a minute after Bennu's initial impact – earth and rock fragments rain down on this devastated area. The largest rocks released by Bennu will be the size of 16-story buildings.

After the collision, power outages, food and water shortages, and communications blackouts continued for several months as the area remained inaccessible.

Overall, Bennu's impact would be a major natural and human disaster. Most of the damage will be concentrated within a radius of tens of kilometers from the point of impact, but there will be devastating effects hundreds of kilometers away.

If the asteroid struck a large urban center, the loss of human life would be enormous.

Bennu's orbit brings it very close to our planet. It is this proximity that gives us the opportunity to determine whether we should prepare for a disaster.

And 21 years after its discovery, in October 2020, we were ready to find out.

My small team gathered at Lockheed Martin's mission control center in Colorado, all of us wearing blue NASA T-shirts, ready to watch the success or failure of OSIRIS-REx—the first American asteroid sampling mission.

The room was divided into two sections – one where the engineers sat in front of monitors to watch the constant stream of information coming in from space, and the other set up like a television, with Benno in the background and a presenter interviewing group members. a task .

The broadcast began at 3pm local time, and soon over a million people tuned in to watch us make history.

I was on guard, trying to follow the clock on the wall while listening to mission control read out important milestones.

In space, OSIRIS-REx began its final descent, approaching the surface at a constant rate of ten centimeters per second. He deftly targeted the nightingale's heart—the area chosen for sampling because of the fine, unobstructed amount of material.

Using its smaller antenna pointed toward the Earth, it transmitted the information to the control center. The 18-minute time gap it took to communicate across the solar system meant that every few minutes, a new data point would arrive from OSIRIS-REx relaying past events.

I was eagerly absorbing every piece of information. An hour later, we got the decisive announcement: “MatchPoint burn is complete.”

This achievement means that the spacecraft activated its rockets to slow its descent and synchronize with the asteroid's rotation. He then embarked on a perilous 11-minute trek up Mount Doom (the nickname we gave for this menacing rock the size of a two-story building) with the goal of getting a clear spot the size of a small parking spot inside a crater, on top of a crater. A pile of rubble that has been traveling within the solar system for hundreds of millions of years.

It really happened, I thought. Did OSIRIS-REx do this?

On the other side of the sun, OSIRIS-REx soared above its target. His computer continued to process the NavCam data, analyzing each pixel as surface features became clearer. With each shot, he was calculating, weighing the chances of hitting the green or calling the red. His fate and the decisive decision to advance or retreat were in his hands.

As he approached the surface, the moment of truth approached. At a distance of just 5 metres, OSIRIS-REx analyzed the final images, taking into account all of its options before making its decision. He then broadcast his choice back to Earth, where we waited to find out what had happened 18 minutes earlier.

For the first time in my life, I realized the true immensity of the solar system. It was vast beyond comprehension. Now my nerves were evident. I knew I was talking fast and breathing heavily. I felt like the whole world was watching me go crazy in real time.

Three minutes later we heard the announcement: “The direction control system has switched to touch-and-go mode.”

Our knowledge of the final decisive decision was only minutes away.

“ORex drops below 25 metres”.

In the final moments before the call, I reminded the presenter that crossing five meters is the critical moment when OSIRIS-REx makes the decision to go ahead or stop.

I told her: “All my senses are now focused on this advertisement.” The next announcement came over the loudspeaker.

“ORex has processed its next image, the location uncertainty is 0.5 metres.”

I could hear the team cheering. “The chance of danger is zero percent.”

My heart started beating. I knew at that moment that OSIRIS-REx had moved. All that remains is for the data to cross the solar system.

The video stream was changed and went to the Control Center. I stared at the screen, focusing my attention on the team, anxiously awaiting the next announcement.

My gaze turned to Estelle, who was monitoring the telemetry from Bennu. This will be the first to know that OSIRIS-REx has touched the surface. Everyone's eyes were on her too. Her spine was tense, and she would occasionally wave her hands as if to shake off water, the only sign that she might be as nervous as the rest of them.

My heart was beating like crazy. 16 years of work came into those dangerous few seconds. After an eternity, the announcement finally came.

“ORex has dropped below the five meter mark. Contact expected within 50 seconds.”

You have finished broadcasting. I made a final remark to the presenter – “Let's go!” – Then I left there. Without another word, I dashed across the stage with Benno and ran to meet my team. As I was on my way to the control center, I heard the crucial announcement.

“Ground touch confirmed.”

I thought about the long, arduous road that had led to this moment, starting with my lonely childhood in which I spent hours staring into the dark desert sky, and the thousands of people across the planet who worked to make this mission a reality.

I thought about my family in Tucson, watching me on TV during the biggest moment of my career. And of course, I was thinking of OSIRIS-REx, just Bennu alone.

Suddenly, Estelle jumped out of her chair, raised her gold bracelet-encrusted wrists in the air in a way that would make an NFL referee proud, and shouted the words I had been waiting so long to hear: “We got a touchdown!”

Restricted by health regulations, we extended our hands to each other and gave each other high fives virtually. The pain of separation was only alleviated by the magnitude of our achievement.

“A piece of primordial rock that has witnessed the long history of our solar system may now be ready to bring back generations of scientific discovery, and I can't wait to see what happens next.”