S8 Ep149: 3/4. Encountering Bennu: Unexpected Terrain and Science — Dante Lauretta — Asteroid Bennu presented surprising geological characteristics, displaying unexpectedly rocky, boulder-strewn terrain rather than the predicted smooth, "beach-like" surface indicat

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 1 December 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

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Summary

3/4. Encountering Bennu: Unexpected Terrain and Science — Dante Lauretta — Asteroid Bennu presented surprising geological characteristics, displaying unexpectedly rocky, boulder-strewn terrain rather than the predicted smooth, "beach-like" surface indicated by telescopic observations. Bennu, a dark, compositionally active object, contained abundant carbon, complex organic molecules, and water locked within clay mineral matrices. Lauretta's team developed innovative "bullseye tag" guidance technology to navigate the treacherous and hazardous terrain, successfully executing sample collection using the TAGSAM (Touch And Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism), which yielded an unexpectedly substantial sample mass.
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0:00.0	This is CBSI in the world. I'm John Patcher, visiting with Professor Dante S. Loretta.
0:10.5	His new book is The Asteroid Hunter, a scientist journey to the dawn of our solar system.
0:16.4	We're now in space. The asteroid Benu is approaching perihelian, meaning that it's close to the sun.
0:27.1	The perfectly built Osiris rec spacecraft has approached it over a time period in which they
0:34.7	count out at the Mike Drake building in Arizona.
0:38.0	They count each day, 438, 437, 436.
0:42.4	Well, it's just days left.
0:45.2	And we're now accompanying Benu.
0:49.0	However, there are surprises.
0:51.0	And one surprise is there's no beach.
0:54.1	What beach, professor?
0:55.0	What were you looking for?
0:57.0	Yeah, we mentioned that we discovered the asteroid in 1999, and it comes close to the Earth every six years.
1:04.0	So in 2005, when we selected it as our target, we performed an unprecedented telescopic astronomical
1:10.0	astronomical campaign.
1:11.6	And two key instruments that we used were the Erescebo planetary radar system, which was based in Puerto Rico,
1:18.6	and the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is part of NASA's Great Observatories program.
1:23.6	Both of those suggested the average size of particles on the surface of the asteroid
1:29.3	was smaller than an inch or so. And when you have two pieces of information that give you the same
1:35.5	conclusion, you start to build a lot of scientific confidence. And we thought that meant it was
1:40.1	going to be gravelly or sandy on the surface and very easy to pick up particles.
1:44.7	So when we talked about those reviews in front of NASA, I got up there and presented all the
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