TAGSAM Success: Navigating Unexpected Leaks to Preserve Bennu’s Sample
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/UA
Two days after the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) touched down on Bennu’s surface, the team back on Earth had various concerns regarding the sampling attempt. The TAGSAM arm was repositioned by the team for inspection. The Mylar flap of the sampler head was jammed with pieces of regolith, resulting in dust and rock particles leaking out. The team decided to cancel the planned mass measurement and turn the spacecraft toward Earth for clearer communication, and to keep the arm still to avoid agitating or losing the sample. The main focus became to get the sample stowed in the capsule promptly. The team worked hard on building software to track the motions and distances of each particle and to estimate the mass of the portion of sample that had already been lost. Other teams worked to compute how much sample remained in the sample head. The team concluded with confidence that they had collected far more than the mission requirement of 60 grams and successfully stowed the sample a few days later.
