NASA is finalizing preparations to land valuable asteroid samples on Earth next month.
The agency’s Osiris-Rex mission team conducted a critical test on Wednesday (Aug. 30) to recover a dummy capsule that fell to Earth at the Pentagon’s Utah Test and Training Range in the desert west of Salt Lake City.
That’s where Osiris-Rex’s real sample capsule, containing about 8.8 ounces (250 grams) of material from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, will land on September 24.
“We are just weeks away from receiving a piece of the history of our solar system on Earth, and this successful drop test ensures we are ready,” said Nicola, deputy administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.・Mr. Fox said. Wednesday’s statement.
“Primitive material from the asteroid Bennu will help us understand the formation of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago, and perhaps how life on Earth began,” Fox added.
Related: Dramatic sampling reveals asteroid Bennu is completely different than scientists expected
OSIRIS-REx launched in September 2016 with a mission to explore and collect samples from Bennu, a potentially hazardous asteroid approximately 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide.
The spacecraft arrived at Bennu in December 2018. They then spent about two years observing the asteroid up close, measuring the dimensions of the rock and swooping down to find a suitable spot to collect samples.
That moment came in October 2020, and it came with quite a bit of drama and surprises.
“We were sure we would touch down on a solid surface – this was an asteroid, a rock from space – but in reality, like if you dropped yourself into a ball pit, “It reacted like a liquid. It’s a child’s playground,” OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona said at a press conference Wednesday.
“The good news is that thanks to its very soft surface, we were able to collect a huge amount of material,” he added.
That material is now on its way to Earth aboard OSIRIS-REx. The name OSIRIS-REx stands for “Origin, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer.” The mission team has been practicing for its arrival for some time, conducting a series of tests this spring and summer. NASA officials said Wednesday’s capsule recovery was part of the last major training exercise.
After landing, the capsule will be transported to a clean room at a military range in Utah, where it will be processed. Bennu’s material will then be sent to her NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, where it will be managed.
Over the coming months and years, some of this asteroid material will be sent to scientists around the world to study for clues about how the solar system formed and evolved.
Researchers will also look for evidence of organic molecules, the building blocks of life, including carbon. Carbon-rich asteroids like Bennu are thought to have brought much of this material to Earth, along with large amounts of water, in long-ago collisions.
By the way, Osiris-Rex will not land on Earth next month. The spacecraft will continue flying on a long-term mission to explore the asteroid Apophis.
Osiris-Rex is scheduled to arrive at Apophis, as well as the potentially dangerous asteroid Bennu, in 2029.