NASA completes last OSIRIS-REx test before asteroid sample delivery

A group led by NASA in Utah’s West Desert is within the last levels of getting ready for the arrival of the primary U.S. asteroid pattern—slated to land on Earth in September.

A mockup of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Useful resource Identification, and Safety–Regolith Explorer) pattern capsule was dropped Wednesday from an plane and landed on the drop zone on the Division of Protection’s Utah Take a look at and Coaching Vary within the desert exterior Salt Lake Metropolis. This was a part of the mission’s last main take a look at previous to arrival of the particular capsule on Sept. 24 with its pattern of asteroid Bennu, collected in space virtually three years in the past.

“We at the moment are mere weeks away from receiving a chunk of solar system historical past on Earth, and this profitable drop take a look at ensures we’re prepared,” mentioned Nicola Fox, affiliate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “Pristine materials from asteroid Bennu will assist make clear the formation of our solar system 4.5 billion years in the past, and even perhaps on how life on Earth started.”

This drop take a look at follows a collection of earlier rehearsals—capsule restoration, spacecraft engineering operations, and pattern curation procedures—carried out earlier this spring and summer season.

Now, with lower than 4 weeks till the spacecraft’s arrival, the OSIRIS-REx group is nearing the top of rehearsals and prepared for the precise supply.

“I’m immensely pleased with the efforts our group has poured into this endeavor,” mentioned Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx on the College of Arizona, Tucson. “Simply as our meticulous planning and rehearsal ready us to gather a pattern from Bennu, now we have honed our expertise for pattern restoration.”

The capsule is carrying an estimated 8.8 ounces of rocky materials collected from the floor of the asteroid Bennu in 2020. Researchers will research the pattern within the coming years to study how our planet and solar system fashioned, in addition to the origin of organics which will have led to life on Earth.

The capsule will enter Earth’s ambiance at 10:42 a.m. EDT (8:42 a.m. MDT), touring about 27,650 mph. NASA’s reside protection of the capsule touchdown begins at 10 a.m. EDT (8 a.m. MDT), and can air on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the company’s web site.

“We at the moment are within the last leg of this seven-year journey, and it feels very very similar to the previous few miles of a marathon, with a confluence of feelings like satisfaction and pleasure coexisting with a decided focus to finish the race effectively,” mentioned Wealthy Burns, undertaking supervisor for OSIRIS-REx at NASA’s Goddard House Flight Heart in Greenbelt, Maryland.

As soon as positioned and packaged for journey, the capsule will likely be flown to a brief clear room on the army vary, the place it’ll bear preliminary processing and disassembly in preparation for its journey by plane to NASA’s Johnson House Heart in Houston, the place the pattern will likely be documented, cared for, and distributed for evaluation to scientists worldwide.