Last month, a NASA capsule landed in the desert in the US state of Utah, carrying to Earth the largest asteroid samples ever collected. On October 11, NASA gave the world its first look at the asteroid Bennu sample, something scientists hope will yield clues about the earliest days of our solar system and perhaps the origins of life itself.  So far, the team has removed and collected 2.48 ounces (70.3 grams) of rocks and dust from the sampler hardware. According to NASA, the samples exceed the mission’s goal of collecting 60 grams of debris from the asteroid. 

There are more samples to collect, however, the teams at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) are now struggling to open the canister.

In the last week, the team for the OSIRIS-REx mission has had a hard time opening the TAGSAM head, which contained the bulk of the rocks and dust collected by the spacecraft in 2020.

”After multiple attempts at removal, the team discovered two of the 35 fasteners on the TAGSAM head could not be removed with the current tools approved for use in the OSIRIS-REx glovebox. The team has been working to develop and implement new approaches to extract the material inside the head while continuing to keep the sample safe and pristine,” NASA wrote in a blog post.

The team will now spend the next few weeks developing and practicing a new procedure to remove the remaining asteroid sample from the TAGSAM sampler head while simultaneously processing the material that was collected this week.

”All curation work on the sample – and the TAGSAM head – is performed in a specialized glovebox under a flow of nitrogen to keep it from being exposed to Earth’s atmosphere, preserving the sample’s pristine state for subsequent scientific analysis. The tools for any proposed solution to extract the remaining material from the head must be able to fit inside the glovebox and not compromise the scientific integrity of the collection, and any procedures must be consistent with the clean room’s standards,” NASA added. 

OSIRIS-REx wasn’t the first mission to rendezvous with an asteroid and bring back samples for study — Japan succeeded in the feat twice, returning bits of space pebbles in 2010 and 2020.

Notably, NASA chose to sample Bennu because it is believed to be rich in organic compounds. Scientists think similar asteroids could have delivered organic building blocks to Earth along with water through collisions billions of years ago.

While it has no chance of hitting Earth through the mid 2100s, the chances rise to around 1 in 1750 between then and the year 2300, NASA said. 

The off-duty US pilot who tried to shut down the engines of a plane mid-flight over the weekend had taken magic mushrooms and thought he was having a nervous breakdown, court documents showed Tuesday.

Pilots wrestled Joseph Emerson out of the cockpit on Sunday after he lunged for handles that would have starved the engines of fuel and turned the plane into a glider.

Emerson, who told police he had not slept in 40 hours, also tried to open an emergency exit in the rear of the aircraft and had to be restrained by the cabin crew during an emergency landing.

“I pulled both emergency shutoff handles because I thought I was dreaming and I just want to wake up,” Emerson told police, according to a criminal complaint.

Emerson and the investigating officer “talked about the use of psychedelic mushrooms, and Emerson said it was his first time taking mushrooms.”

The 44-year-old was arrested on Sunday evening after the Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.

Emerson had boarded the flight — which was operated by Horizon Air — between Everett, Washington, and San Francisco, sitting in the jump seat of the cockpit, in line with airline policy for non-working staff.

A short way into the journey, after chatting with the pilots “Emerson attempted to grab and pull two red fire handles that would have activated the plane’s emergency fire suppression system and cut off fuel to its engines,” the Department of Justice said.

“After a brief physical struggle with the pilots, Emerson exited the cockpit.”

Alaska Airlines said Monday that pilots had reacted quickly to reverse the handles, and the aircraft had landed safely.

“Flight attendants placed Emerson in wrist restraints and seated him in the rear of the aircraft,” the Department of Justice said. 

“During the flight’s descent, Emerson tried to grab the handle of an emergency exit. A flight attendant stopped him by placing her hands on top of his.”

The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon said Emerson faces a federal charge of interfering with flight crew members and attendants.

He has also been charged in Oregon with 83 counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft.

US media reported that he pleaded not guilty to these charges during a brief court appearance in Portland on Tuesday.

Live ATC, a website that archives conversations between pilots and air traffic controllers, published an audio recording of the moments after the incident.

“We’ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit,” the pilot said. “And he doesn’t sound like he’s causing any issue in the back right now.

“I think he’s subdued. Other than that, yeah, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked,” the pilot said.

Alaska Airlines said Tuesday that Emerson had been “removed from service indefinitely and relieved from all duties.”

A Germanwings plane on a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf was intentionally crashed by a pilot in March 2015, killing all 144 passengers and six crew members on board.

 Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Tuesday announced that the ground personnel massing on the southern border were ready to ‘invade’ Gaza, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Briefing reporters at the country’s southern border, IDF Chief-of-Staff, Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi said, “I want to be clear, we are ready to invade.”

He added that the IDF was in the process of deciding on the ‘exact timing’ of the ground invasion of Gaza in coordination with the country’s political echelons.

On the delay in the counter-invasion of Gaza after the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7, the IDF chief-of-staff was quoted by the Jerusalem Post as saying, “At this stage, there are tactical and strategic factors which are allowing us more time to improve and to exploit every minute to be more ready.”

He added that with “every minute that passes”, they are “attacking the enemy more”.

“With every minute that passes for the other side, we are attacking the enemy more, killing its fighters, killing its commanders, destroying its infrastructure, and collecting more intelligence for the next moves,” he added.

“We are keeping him in tension,” Halevi said, adding that the longer Hamas waits for the Israeli invasion, the more stressed it will become, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday said under the intelligence guidance of the Shin Bet, it thwarted terrorists of the Hamas terror organization.

“The Air Force under the intelligence guidance of the Shin Bet thwarted terrorists of the terrorist organization Hamas tonight, among them: – Abd al-Rahman, deputy commander of the Nuzirat Battalion, participated in the murderous raid on Kibbutz Bari. – Khalil Mahjaz, deputy commander of the Shati Battalion. – Khalil Tethari, deputy commander of the Sheik Radwan Battalion,” the Israeli Air Force posted from its official handle on X.

חיל-האוויר בהכוונה מודיענית של שב”כ סיכל הלילה מחבלים של ארגון הטרור חמאס, ביניהם:

– עבד אלרחמאן, סגן מפקד גדוד נוציראת, השתתף בפשיטה הרצחנית על קיבוץ בארי.

– ח׳ליל מחג׳ז, סגן מפקד גדוד שאטי.

– ח׳ליל תתרי, סגן מפקד גדוד שיח רדואן.https://t.co/EB1dOOSMOF pic.twitter.com/au5rxRyEJi

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 24, 2023

Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared on X that Israel has only one task at hand, which is to crush Hamas and it won’t stop till the objective is accomplished.

“With the fighters in the field, we have only one task — to crush Hamas, and we will not stop until we complete the task,” the Israeli PM stated.

עם הלוחמים בשטח. יש לנו רק משימה אחת – לרסק את החמאס, ולא נפסיק עד שנשלים את המשימה. pic.twitter.com/eW1JihfTZI

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 24, 2023

Moreover, according to a report in The Times of Israel, infiltration alarms were sounding in Netiv Ha’asara, a kibbutz just north of Gaza, after similar soundings earlier in Zikim and Karmia.

While residents were largely evacuated, those choosing to stay back were told to stay at home and lock their doors, according to the report.