NASA Wraps Up Preparation for Arrival of OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample by Conducting Crucial Drop Test

NASA is already wrapping up its preparation efforts for the OSIRIS-REx sample return. The U.S. space agency has been training to retrieve the treasured sample from asteroid Bennu, set to land on Earth next month.

NASA Conducts Drop Test For OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return

NASA team for the OSIRIS-REx mission successfully completed a critical test by reclaiming a mock capsule that had fallen to Earth in the United States in Utah Test and Training Range of the Department of Defense, in the desert west of Salt Lake City, Wednesday (Aug. 30).

The sample capsule from OSIRIS-REx will land there on Sept. 24. It contains around 8.8 ounces (250 grams) of material from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu.

The successful drop test confirms that the team is already prepared as it is only a few weeks away from getting the sample land to Earth, according to Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, in a statement on Wednesday. She added that the pure material from asteroid Bennu will help them understand how our solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago and potentially even how life on Earth started.

What Is OSIRIS-REx?

NASA's OSIRIS-REx project is the first American mission to collect an asteroid sample. It launched in September 2016.

The mission was to investigate and collect samples from Bennu, a potentially hazardous asteroid about 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide.

In December 2018, the spacecraft arrived at Bennu. It then closely observed the asteroid for almost two years, getting a feel for it and hunting for prime locations to swoop in and capture a sample. They made huge progress in October 2020.

OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona said they assumed they would land on a solid surface because it was an asteroid, a rock from space. However, the asteroid reportedly behaved more like a fluid, similar to what would happen if you dropped yourself into a ball pit at a playground. The good news is that they gathered a ton of stuff because of its incredibly soft surface.

The sample capsule will be released by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft when it gets there to land safely in the Utah desert. Rocks and dust from the surface of Bennu, which were recovered in 2020, will provide future scientists with a glimpse into the time when the Sun and planets were forming, some 4.5 billion years ago.

Currently, such material is flying toward Earth aboard OSIRIS-REx, an acronym for "Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer."

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The mission crew has been preparing for the spacecraft's arrival for some time, doing several tests during the spring and summer. According to NASA officials, Wednesday's capsule recovery is a part of the final significant test flight.

The capsule will be moved to a sterile facility on the Utah military range for processing after landing. After that, the Bennu material will be delivered to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where it will be organized and kept.

OSIRIS-REx won't touch down on Earth in a month; instead, the probe will continue traveling through space on a prolonged mission to investigate the asteroid Apophis.

OSIRIS-REx is expected to land in Apophis in 2029. Apophis is reportedly similar to Bennu due to its potential threat to Earth.