--- title: "NASA Shocked by “Plumes Erupting From an Asteroid’s Surface”" description: "NASA just announced that one of its spacecrafts has made a surprise discovery: \"particle plumes erupting\" from the surface of a large asteroid called Bennu." date: "2019-03-19" modified: "2019-03-19" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/nasa-plumes-erupting-asteroid-surface" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "asteroid" - "bennu" - "NASA" - "plumes" --- # NASA Shocked by “Plumes Erupting From an Asteroid’s Surface” ![NASA just announced that one of its spacecrafts has made a surprise discovery: "particle plumes erupting" from the surface of a large asteroid called Bennu.]() *\Image: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin\* ## Asteroid Plumes You probably think of asteroids as inert space rocks. But NASA [just announced]() that one of its spacecrafts has made a surprise discovery: "particle plumes erupting" from the surface of a large asteroid called Bennu — and while details of the discovery are still hazy, it could suggest that some asteroids are far more dynamic and poorly understood than previously believed. ## Biggest Surprises The discovery of the plumes comes from an uncrewed NASA spacecraft called OSIRIS-REx, which started orbiting Bennu on Dec. 31. It's not clear from what NASA has released so far what the ejections might be comprised of, but the space agency said that while some of the plumes came out fast enough to escape Bennu entirely, others appear to get recaptured by the asteroid's gravity and come to rest again on its surface. "The discovery of plumes is one of the biggest surprises of my scientific career," said Dante Lauretta, a principal investigator on the OSIRIS-REx mission at the University of Arizona, Tucson, in a [press release](). "And the rugged terrain went against all of our predictions. Bennu is already surprising us, and our exciting journey there is just getting started." ## Biggest Questions In addition to expressing surprise at the plumes, several NASA scientists praised the performance of OSIRIS-REx and its team — and expressed hope that more questions will be answered when the spacecraft returns home to Earth in 2023. "The first three months of OSIRIS-REx’s up-close investigation of Bennu have reminded us what discovery is all about — surprises, quick thinking, and flexibility," said Lori Glaze, acting director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We study asteroids like Bennu to learn about the origin of the solar system. OSIRIS-REx’s sample will help us answer some of the biggest questions about where we come from." **READ MORE:** [NASA Mission Reveals Asteroid Has Big Surprises]() \[NASA\] **More on asteroids:** [*Japan Announces Plan to Bomb Asteroid*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()