The NASA mission landed in the US this afternoon with 'pristine' samples from an asteroid which scientists warned could one day hit Earth.
The asteroid sample has now arrived just outside the clean room and will soon be taken inside and undergo analysis by scientists.The building already houses moon rocks gathered by the Apollo astronauts more than a half-century ago. The asteroid sample capsule is now being flown back to a NASA clean room set up at the Defence Department's Utah Test and Training Range. It is dangling about 100ft below the helicopter.
These desert samples will be scooped up and analysed along with the asteroid sample inside the capsule. They are scanning the area and taking gas and thermal readings of the capsule before other crew members can approach. The first team will make sure the capsule is safe to approach and then the rest of the team will begin recovery operations.
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