NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission Nears Climax with Trailer Release
It has been a long and challenging journey for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida seven years ago. However, the hard work is finally paying off as the spacecraft prepares to deliver samples from the asteroid Bennu back to Earth later this month.
Describing the upcoming event as a significant milestone, Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for science, expressed his excitement about the primordial piece of the solar system making its way back to our planet. Zurbuchen believes that this material has the potential to unlock many secrets of the universe for generations of researchers.
In order to spread awareness about the momentous return of the asteroid samples on September 24, NASA recently unveiled a trailer showcasing footage from the mission. One of the mind-blowing moments featured in the trailer is the spacecraft’s successful landing on Bennu, while the asteroid hurtles through space at an astounding speed of 63,000 mph, approximately 200 million miles away from Earth.
As the spacecraft nears Earth, it will release a capsule containing the precious samples collected from Bennu. In the final leg of this epic journey, the capsule will deploy a parachute and gracefully descend to the Utah Test and Training Range, which is under the Department of Defense’s jurisdiction. The dedicated OSIRIS-REx team will be eagerly waiting at this site to receive the capsule and its invaluable contents.
NASA has been meticulously preparing for the capsule’s arrival, conducting simulations to ensure a smooth and successful retrieval process. These preparations include guiding the spacecraft towards Earth, instructing it to release the capsule carrying the asteroid samples, closely monitoring the capsule as it plummets through the atmosphere, rapidly retrieving it from the ground to prevent any environmental contamination, and ultimately transporting it to a temporary clean room via helicopter.
Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, highlights the importance of the pristine material from Bennu. She believes that it can offer significant insights into the formation of our solar system over 4.5 billion years ago and may even shed light on the origins of life on Earth.
While NASA’s achievement of returning an asteroid sample will be a first for the agency, it is worth noting that this feat has been accomplished twice before by two Japanese missions. In 2010 and 2020, these missions successfully delivered samples from different asteroids back to Earth, marking significant milestones in space exploration.
The countdown is on for the grand return of the OSIRIS-REx mission. As NASA’s spacecraft prepares to deliver samples from Bennu, scientists and space enthusiasts worldwide eagerly await the secrets and discoveries that this historic mission will reveal.
