LOS ANGELES, Sept 23 — A Nasa space capsule carrying a sample of rocky material plucked from the surface of an asteroid three years ago hurtled toward Earth this weekend headed...
LOS ANGELES, Sept 23 — A Nasa space capsule carrying a sample of rocky material plucked from the surface of an asteroid three years ago hurtled toward Earth this weekend headed for a fiery plunge through the atmosphere and a parachute landing in the Utah desert tomorrow.
The round, gumdrop-shaped capsule is scheduled to land by parachute at 10:55 a.m. EDT , about 13 minutes after streaking into the top of the atmosphere at roughly 35 times the speed of sound, capping a seven-year voyage. Bennu is small as asteroids go, measuring just 1,600 feet in diameter - slightly wider than the Empire State Building is tall but tiny compared with the cataclysmic Chicxulub asteroid that struck Earth some 66 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs.