In a historic first for the country, NASA’s first samples of an asteroid from deep space have safely touched down on Earth.
Teams from NASA and the U.S. Air Force successfully recovered a space capsule carrying samples of asteroid Bennu obtained by the agency’s OSIRIS-REx mission in 2020 during a mid-morning operation at the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in the dry Utah desert. The mission is historic since it is the first time NASA has successfully obtained an asteroid sample and recovered it.
The OSIRIS-REx probe, which had traveled more than 4 billion miles (6.2 billion kilometers) to reach Bennu, released its sample return capsule this morning while it was around 63,000 miles (101,000 km) above Earth. About 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of rocks and other items from Bennu are contained in the capsule. These items may be able to shed light on some of the most pressing questions facing scientists today, including how life came to be on Earth and when our solar system first formed.
Jim Garvin, the Goddard Space Flight Center’s head scientist, declared during a live webcast from the landing location, “Touchdown for science!” “We returned home with gifts from this kind of thing for the first time in history. We’re all heaving a great sigh of relief because this is so significant.
As it plummeted through Earth’s atmosphere, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft endured heatshield temperatures of up to 5,300 degrees Fahrenheit (2,900 degrees Celsius) and speeds of up to 27,000 mph (43,450 km/h).
At a height of nearly 20,000 feet, four times higher than anticipated at 5,000 feet, the capsule opened its main parachute, yet it appeared to land without incident. In the post-landing conference, representatives from NASA and Lockheed Martin Space Systems, which constructed OSIRIS-REx, assured reporters that the drogue chute was certainly deployed; it was just not visible on the cameras observing the descent.
“We landed, that’s the main thing. The OSIRIS-REx recovery team lead at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Mike Moreau, stated at the briefing, “When the main parachute came out, that was the moment I was waiting for.” “The drogue’s on top of the main parachute, so it all had to come out,” he continued.
The sample return capsule cooled down sufficiently for U.S. Air Force troops to approach after finding it as it floated down to the desert floor of the Utah Test and Training Range of the U.S. Department of Defense.
In total, the 4 billion mile journey, from the edge of the atmosphere to the desert sands, took less than ten minutes. Launched in 2016, the $1 billion OSIRIS-REx mission reached Bennu in 2018 and collected samples from the asteroid in 2020.
Dante Lauretta, the OSIRIS-REx mission’s main investigator, said in a post-landing briefing, “Boy, did we stick the landing.
After landing, the capsule and its surroundings were checked to see if it was safe for members of the OSIRIS-REx team and recovery workers to approach and investigate the capsule. The capsule was discovered to be intact and to have experienced no landing-related breaches during an early examination by recovery personnel.
From there, the capsule was transported to a temporary cleanroom erected at the Dugway Proving Ground of the United States Army by being connected to a helicopter by a long line.
The capsule was opened after being safely inside the building, and the canister inside, which houses the priceless sample of the asteroid Bennu, was then prepped for transport once more. The asteroid material will next be sent to NASA’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) division at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, where a freshly constructed facility is waiting for it.
“Congratulations to the OSIRIS-REx team as a whole. You succeeded. During the live commentary, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is shown in a video. “This mission shows how much NASA accomplishes. Things that uplift us, bring us together and demonstrate that nothing is impossible.
The sample will then be split among other research organizations and international space agencies. 70% of the material will be retained by NASA and kept at JSC for further analysis. Over 200 scientists at 35 various facilities will each receive 25% more. A further 0.5% will go to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and 4% will go to the Canadian Space Agency.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx is the first mission to collect an asteroid sample, although JAXA has already conducted two such missions. In 2010, elements from the asteroid Itokawa were gathered and returned by that agency’s Hayabusa 1, and in 2020, samples from the asteroid Ryugu were returned by Hayabusa 2.
The asteroid Bennu samples were successfully landed and recovered, bringing a close to a seven-year expedition that was not without its shocks. In 2018, when the spacecraft reached Bennu, it discovered an asteroid that resembled more of a mass of pebbles and debris than a solid rock. The mission’s scientists were forced to reconsider their initial plans for the probe’s landing, which necessitated reprogramming the spacecraft to land in a location that was only about one-fourth as large as its original intended landing spot.
However, the OSIRIS-REx team succeeded. Lauretta stated that the OSIRIS-REx crew has consistently demonstrated the ability to resolve any unforeseen problems that have arisen during a pre-landing media briefing on September 22.
We have always been deliberate, cautious, and cautious, Lauretta remarked. And I believe that’s the reason this mission has been so effective thus far.
Editor’s note: This article was modified at 6 p.m. ET to reflect remarks from NASA and the OSIRIS-REx mission at a press conference held following the capsule’s touchdown.
