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science Wednesday 21 OctOber 2020
A13

U.S. spacecraft diving to HEALTH

asteroid for rare rubble grab DOCTOR ON DUTY

Oranjestad
By MARCIA DUNN spacecraft got anything at Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm
AP Aerospace Writer all. Unlike the exceptionally Tel. 527 4000
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. fast Mars descents — de- San Nicolas
(AP) — A NASA space- scribed by NASA as seven Imsan 24 hours
craft descended Tuesday minutes of terror — "this is Tel.524 8833
toward the surface of an much more of 4 1/2 hours Women in Difficulties
asteroid 200 million miles of mild anxiousness," Enos PHARMACY ON DUTY
away to collect a handful said on the eve of the big This undated image made available by NASA shows the aster-
oid Bennu from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
of rubble for return to Earth. grab. "We have practiced Associated Press Oranjestad:
Kibrahacha Tel. 583 4908
The Osiris-Rex space- San Nicolas:
craft dropped out of or- Sudoku and rehearsed with the Seroe Preto Tel. 584 4833
bit around asteroid Bennu spacecraft ... so we've Women in Difficulties
right on time, beginning a seen almost all of this al- OTHER
4 1/2-hour plunge to the ready. " Dental Clinic 587 9850
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plished by Japan — twice. Oranjestad 527 3140
Bennu's gravity was too low Noord 527 3200
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— the asteroid is just 1,670 San Nicolas 584 5000
feet (510 meters) across. Police Tipline 11141
As a result, Osiris-Rex has to Ambulancia 911
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(3.4-meter) robot arm while
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The plan called for Osiris- Phone Directory Tel. 118
Rex to shoot out pressur-
ized nitrogen gas to stir up
the surface, then suck up
any loose pebbles or dust.
Contact was expected to
last a mere 5 seconds to 10
seconds, with the space-
craft quickly backing
away. NASA won't know
until later this week how
much was actually col-
lected — or whether the