Epic Footage Reveals NASA Spacecraft Delivering Astounding Asteroid Sample in Breathtaking Utah Desert Drop

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After being in space for seven years, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to pass by Earth on Sunday, carrying a untainted sample obtained from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. This marks NASA's inaugural mission to bring back an asteroid sample from outer space.

NASA will livestream the delivery starting at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday.

In 2016, OSIRIS-REx, acronym for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, was launched and commenced orbiting Bennu in 2018. In 2020, the spacecraft obtained the sample and embarked on its extensive journey back to Earth in May 2021.

The spacecraft collected a sample of rocks and dirt from Bennu in October 2020.

The sample capsule, carrying approximately 8.8 ounces of asteroid rocks and soil, is projected to descend towards Earth's surface early Sunday. If the spacecraft's trajectory remains consistent, it will drop from a distance of 63,000 miles (102,000 kilometers), entering the planet's atmosphere at 10:42 a.m. ET. The capsule will be traveling at a velocity of approximately 27,650 miles per hour (44,498 kilometers per hour).

The capsule's descent will be controlled by parachutes to ensure a smooth landing at a speed of 11 miles per hour (17.7 kilometers per hour). Approximately 13 minutes after entering the atmosphere, the sample is expected to touch down in the Defense Departments Utah Test and Training Range.

Following the release of the capsule, OSIRIS-REx will proceed with its solar system exploration, focusing on analyzing the asteroid Apophis in great detail.

After landing, recovery and research teams will be transported to the landing site using four helicopters. They will then conduct aerial assessments to ensure that the capsule remains undamaged, as stated by Rich Burns, the OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Recovery teams, who have undergone months of training, will be ready to retrieve the capsule once it is deemed safe to do so, according to Sandra Freund, OSIRIS-REx program manager at Lockheed Martin Space. Lockheed Martin Space has partnered with NASA to construct the spacecraft, oversee flight operations, and assist in the recovery of the capsule.

Equipped with protective gloves and masks, the initial recovery team will ensure that the capsule has sufficiently cooled down to be handled. This is important as the capsule can reach temperatures of up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) during reentry. Additionally, the team will check for any potential ruptures in the capsule's battery, ensuring that no toxic fumes have leaked.

Teams conducted simulations of capsule recovery tests in Utah over the summer.

Keegan Barber/NASA

A science team will collect samples from the landing site, including air, dust and dirt particles.

Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson, explained that one of the main goals of the mission is to retrieve a pristine sample, meaning that no foreign materials should interfere with the analysis. To ensure this, the team aims to thoroughly document any materials present in the Utah range that could potentially interact with the sample.

The sample will be transported by helicopter in a cargo net and brought to a temporary clean room near the landing site. Inside this controlled environment, the curation team will perform a nitrogen purge to prevent any contamination from Earth's atmosphere entering the sample canister. Nicole Lunning, OSIRIS-REx curation lead at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, added that they will remove the larger pieces of the capsule during the process.

Recovery teams are prepared to retrieve the sample from the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range.

The sample canister will be prepared for transportation on a C-17 aircraft to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday. On Tuesday, scientists anticipate removing the lid to observe the sample for the initial time.

The information about the sample will be unveiled during a NASA broadcast from Johnson Space Center on October 11. Although the scientific team won't have had sufficient time to thoroughly evaluate the sample, they intend to gather some finely textured material from the canister's surface on Tuesday for a brief analysis that can be disclosed in October, as mentioned by Lauretta.

The rocks and soil will be analyzed by scientists for the next two years in a specially designated clean room at Johnson Space Center. Additionally, the sample will be distributed to laboratories worldwide, including partners from the OSIRIS-REx mission at the Canadian Space Agency and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. Approximately 70% of the sample will be preserved in storage to allow future generations with advanced technology to gain even more knowledge than is currently possible.

Lori Glaze, director for NASAs Planetary Sciences Division, reassured that in the event of a government shutdown, the curation and safe handling of the asteroid sample will not be compromised.

"Certain steps that were supposed to precede this much-awaited analysis may experience some delays, however, rest assured that the sample will remain safeguarded and secure, regardless of any disruptions to the planned timeline," she stated during a press conference on Friday. "The sample has patiently awaited human study for over 4 billion years, so if it takes us a bit longer, I believe we will manage just fine."

Scientists will carefully study the sample using special glove boxes at Johnson Space Center.

NASA

The rocks and soil, along with a sample of the asteroid Ryugu previously collected from Japan's Hayabusa2 mission, could provide valuable insights into the origins of our solar system. It is believed by scientists that carbonaceous asteroids like Bennu collided with Earth during the early stages of planetary formation, delivering essential elements such as water.

According to Glaze, these missions focused on studying small celestial bodies, like Bennu, are crucial for NASA's understanding of the formation and evolution of our solar system. This is because Bennu is considered to contain some of the oldest materials formed in dying stars and supernova explosions within our own solar system. Hence, NASA is committed to investing in these missions to deepen our knowledge on this subject.

However, the sample can also offer valuable information about Bennu, a celestial body that poses a potential collision risk with Earth in the future. Gaining deeper knowledge about the population of near-Earth asteroids that could potentially collide with our planet is vital. A comprehensive understanding of their composition and orbits is crucial for accurately predicting which asteroids will have the closest encounters with Earth and determining when these events might occur. Additionally, this information is essential for the development of effective strategies to deflect these asteroids, taking into account their specific compositions.