NASA finalizes preparations for the arrival of samples from Bennu

2023-08-31 11:33:17

Landing of the replica of the sample capsule of the OSIRIS-REx mission – NASA

MADRID, 31 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –

A NASA-led team in the Utah desert finalizes its preparation for the arrival of the first US asteroid sample, whose landing is scheduled for September.

A mockup of the sample capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) mission was launched on Wednesday from a plane and landed on the drop zone at the Department of Defense Test and Training Range in the Utah desert.

This was part of the last big test of the mission before the arrival of the royal capsule on September 24 with his sample of the asteroid Bennu, collected in space almost three years ago.

“We are just weeks away from receiving a piece of solar system history on Earth, and this successful drop test ensures that we are ready,” he said. it’s a statement Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “The pristine material from the asteroid Bennu will help shed light on the formation of our solar system 4.5 billion years ago, and perhaps even how life began on Earth.”

This drop test follows a series of previous tests (capsule recovery, spacecraft engineering operations, and sample curing procedures) conducted earlier this spring and summer.

The capsule carries approximately 250 grams of rocky material collected from the surface of the asteroid Bennu in 2020.. The researchers will study the sample in the coming years to learn about how our planet and solar system formed, as well as the origin of the organic matter that could have given rise to life on Earth.

The capsule will enter the Earth’s atmosphere at 1442 UTC, traveling at about 44,500 kilometers per hour.

Once located and packaged for travel, the capsule will be flown to a temporary clean room at the military camp, where it will undergo initial processing and disassembly in preparation for its flight to NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. where it will be stored and managed for distribution and analysis by scientists around the world.