NASA found black dust and debris in the canister holding the first U.S. deep space asteroid sample.
This discovery was made when the lid of the OSIRIS-REx mission's canister was removed.
NASA believes the dust is part of the asteroid sample and plans to analyze it.
The presence of this dust was expected in the curation process.
OSIRIS-REx collected samples from asteroid Bennu using a vacuum.
Some sample contents were lost due to a jammed door during collection.
The spacecraft traveled 4 billion miles during its $1 billion mission.
Asteroids like Bennu may have played a role in Earth's habitability.
Bennu is considered a low-risk asteroid for impacting Earth.
The asteroid sample, about a cup of rubble, arrived at NASA's Johnson Space Center on September 25.
The world will have the opportunity to witness the unveiling of the sample through a live stream on NASA's website on October 11 at 11 a.m. ET.