Overview
- NASA released X-ray computed tomography imagery on March 17 that maps pervasive internal crack networks inside particles from asteroid Bennu.
- Using XCT-derived structure and porosity scaled to boulder size, researchers modeled heat flow that matches the spacecraft’s thermal observations.
- The finding resolves the long-standing mismatch between Spitzer’s 2007 low thermal-inertia reading and OSIRIS-REx’s 2018 view of a boulder-covered surface.
- At Johnson Space Center, teams performed non-destructive 3D scans under nitrogen to preserve pristine samples, then returned them to containment for curation.
- Other laboratory tests, including Nagoya University’s lock-in thermography, reported higher thermal inertia than spacecraft data, highlighting method-dependent differences under study.