Monisha Ravisetti is Space.com's Astronomy Editor. She covers black holes, star explosions, gravitational waves, exoplanet discoveries and other enigmas hidden across the fabric of space and time. Previously, she was a science writer at CNET, and before that, reported for The Academic Times.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It was business as usual at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History on Nov. 1, with visitors shuffling through dinosaur exhibits, tiny school children in matching red hats juxtaposed by towering animal models, and focused parents trying to catch a glimpse of the glimmering Hope Diamond. Business as usual indeed, except in one special corner: The Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals.
"It's all part of our quest to try to understand who we are; where we are in the vastness of this Earth," he said. The other sample didn't even get that private car, red carpet treatment McCoy had brought that one over himself, taking a flight from Houston to Washington DC. Then, he took the metro to the museum. Both genuine and nervous laughter ensued after he remarked,"WMTA can say that they transported a piece of Bennu."
On that note, the size of this sample is such a big deal because it means lots of it can be stored away for future generations to look at and study too, just like how some of themission only brought back about 5 grams of material from the asteroid Ryugu — and that itself offered scientists some intriguing investigative results.
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