After watching the video from Scott Manley (great video) I can see how the sampling mechanism is supposed to work.
I wonder whether they can make use of momentum to close the sample doors and capture the samples preventing closure.
Since there are some chunks preventing closure and they had planned to be able to sample more than once in the event that the first attempt didn't recover enough material that means that they can control the opening and closing of the sample doors.
It seems to me, having grown up as a kid being transported in an old Pontiac station wagon back before seat belts, that you could extend the arm behind Osiris-Rex pointing opposite the direction of travel and then trigger the doors open just as you fire to decelerate and the particles preventing closure should zoom into the collector like preschoolers into the windshield of that old station wagon when the brakes were applied.
The sample doors are just a flap that gets blown open by the nitrogen during sample gathering then springs shut, there's no direct control over them, the solution is to just pack it away in the return canister very carefully.
I figured it couldn't be that easy or they would already have considered it. Springs are probably more reliable for that application on a spacecraft. Thanks for clarifying that for me.
My rule of thumb is NASA/JPL/JAXA/ESA are full of far smarter people than me so if I think of it in 5 minutes they definitely thought of it already and have a binder full of reasons it's not the best option.
I wonder whether they can make use of momentum to close the sample doors and capture the samples preventing closure.
Since there are some chunks preventing closure and they had planned to be able to sample more than once in the event that the first attempt didn't recover enough material that means that they can control the opening and closing of the sample doors.
It seems to me, having grown up as a kid being transported in an old Pontiac station wagon back before seat belts, that you could extend the arm behind Osiris-Rex pointing opposite the direction of travel and then trigger the doors open just as you fire to decelerate and the particles preventing closure should zoom into the collector like preschoolers into the windshield of that old station wagon when the brakes were applied.