NASA’s OSIRIS-REX mission is set to complete its seven-year journey as a capsule filled with pristine space rock from the asteroid Bennu is expected to land in a Utah desert on September 24. The mission, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resources Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer, was launched in 2016 with the hope of uncovering clues about the origins of the solar system and the genesis of life on Earth.
The capsule is scheduled to touch down at 10:55 a.m. Eastern time, roughly 80 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. NASA will livestream the arrival on its YouTube channel, starting at 10 a.m. Alternatively, viewers can watch the event in the embedded video player above. Prior to the capsule’s release, the OSIRIS-REX command team conducted a go-or-no-go poll to assess any potential risks. Fortunately, the team unanimously voted for “go,” ensuring the successful release of the capsule.
Bennu, like other asteroids, serves as a geological relic, carrying remnants of the solar system’s formation billions of years ago. Its regolith, which refers to loose rock and dust on its surface, holds valuable information about the origins and evolution of the solar system. Scientists believe that asteroids like Bennu may have played a role in bringing life-essential ingredients to Earth. By studying these asteroids up close, researchers hope to gain insights that cannot be obtained from meteorites that have fallen to Earth.
While this is not the first time researchers have retrieved samples from space, it marks a significant milestone for NASA’s OSIRIS-REX mission. In 2020, the Japanese space agency JAXA successfully retrieved a few grams of regolith from the asteroid Ryugu. The OSIRIS-REX mission, on the other hand, is expected to bring back approximately half a pound of Bennu’s untouched asteroid dirt.
The mission’s lengthy duration can be attributed to its fuel-efficient trajectory through the solar system. Departing in 2016, OSIRIS-REX reached Bennu two years later. The mission team then spent two years surveying the asteroid to locate the safest spot for the spacecraft to gather regolith. In October 2020, the team utilized a tool that punched the surface of Bennu before bouncing off. Following this maneuver, OSIRIS-REX embarked on its two-year journey back to Earth.
Once the capsule is retrieved, it will be transported to a clean room at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. From there, it will be transferred to a curation facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. In October, the sample team plans to unveil its initial findings, including the composition of Bennu and how it compares to material obtained from other asteroids. Over the next two years, researchers will conduct a more comprehensive investigation of the asteroid.
Furthermore, the spacecraft will undergo a second mission to visit Apophis, another near-Earth asteroid predicted to pass by our planet in 2029. Aptly named OSIRIS-APEX, the mission aims to gather information that could help mitigate future encounters with hazardous asteroids.
As we eagerly await the landing of the OSIRIS-REX capsule, the scientific community anticipates the wealth of knowledge and insights that this mission will provide, offering a deeper understanding of our solar system’s origins and the potential for life beyond Earth.