70% of the sample will be preserved 'for study by scientists not yet born, using technologies not yet invented.'
dirt and gravel will then make its way to a newly built curation facility managed by the agency's Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science division.
ARES"is home to the world’s most extensive collection of extraterrestrial materials — including lunar rocks, solar wind particles,The OSIRIS-REx science team will then spend two years studying the sample and conducting analyses needed to meet the $1 billion mission's chief research goals. Those goals include shedding further light on the's early days and mapping out the role carbon-rich asteroids like Bennu may have played in delivering the building blocks of life to Earth long ago.
The team consists of more than 200 people based at 35 institutions around the world. NASA officials have said these researchers will have access to about 25% of the Bennu material. The new OSIRIS-REx curation laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center undergoing preparations for completion of the glovebox nitrogen plumbing.