NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Capsule Safely Lands with Asteroid Sample
After years of anticipation and hard work, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has successfully delivered a capsule filled with rocks and dust collected from asteroid Bennu to Earth. This historic event took place at 8:52 a.m. MDT (10:52 a.m. EDT) in a designated area of the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City.
Ensuring Sample Purity
Within just 90 minutes, the capsule was transported by helicopter to a temporary clean room in a hangar on the training range. Here, it is connected to a continuous flow of nitrogen gas, which is essential to maintain the sample’s purity. Nitrogen doesn’t react with most chemicals, ensuring that the sample remains free from earthly contaminants for scientific analysis.
Scientific Significance
The returned samples from Bennu, estimated to be around 8.8 ounces or 250 grams, hold immense scientific value. They will aid scientists worldwide in understanding various aspects of our solar system’s formation, the origin of organics and water that contributed to life on Earth, and even the study of potentially hazardous asteroids.
NASA Administrator’s Praise
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated the OSIRIS-REx team on this remarkable achievement, describing it as “the first American asteroid sample return in history.” He emphasized the importance of this mission in enhancing our knowledge of the solar system and potentially hazardous asteroids.
Sample Journey
The Bennu sample, which marks a first for the United States, will be flown to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for further analysis. Curation scientists there will carefully extract, weigh, and inventory the sample before distributing pieces of Bennu to researchers worldwide.
Team Effort
Today’s successful sample delivery is the result of a massive collaborative effort involving hundreds of people who guided the spacecraft’s journey from its launch in 2016 to its return. It involved intricate tasks such as identifying a safe sample collection site on Bennu and executing the collection process.
A New Beginning
Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx, sees this achievement as the beginning of a new chapter in scientific exploration. He stated that analyzing these samples provides an unprecedented opportunity to unlock the secrets of our solar system.
Capsule’s Journey Home
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft released its sample capsule toward Earth’s atmosphere, traveling billions of miles before landing off the coast of California. The capsule deployed two parachutes to ensure a gentle landing, and it was safely retrieved by the recovery team.
A World Series Victory
Rich Burns, project manager for OSIRIS-REx, likened today’s achievement to a World Series victory, acknowledging the team’s dedication and preparation in making it happen.
Mission Details
The OSIRIS-REx mission involves contributions from various organizations, including NASA Goddard, the University of Arizona, Lockheed Martin Space, KinetX Aerospace, and international collaborations with CSA and JAXA. It is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
This successful mission demonstrates NASA’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of exploration, inspiring us all, and reminding us that nothing is beyond our reach when we work together.
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