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Friday, October 16, 2026 · UTC
Missions & Exploration

Bennu surface 50 times weaker than ground coffee, sample analysis shows

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission returned 121.6 grams of regolith from asteroid Bennu in September 2023, and analysis reveals the surface is exceptionally weak.

Luisa Marconi
Senior Space Correspondent
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Stands on 4 placed sources from 2 publishers.
The surface of asteroid Bennu is 50 times weaker than a cylinder of freshly ground coffee, which has a strength of about 50 Pa, according to Paul Sánchez, a senior research associate at the University of Colorado Boulder.[3]