NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is scheduled to return samples of Asteroid Bennu to Earth. Learn more about it in this NASA explainer.
Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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TechTranscript
00:00 OSIRIS-REx is NASA's first asteroid sample return mission.
00:05 It launched in September 2016 on a journey to explore a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu.
00:11 After arriving in 2018, OSIRIS-REx spent nearly two years orbiting Bennu,
00:16 mapping and studying its rugged terrain, before carrying out its primary science objective.
00:22 On October 20, 2020, the spacecraft ventured to a small crater in the asteroid's northern hemisphere.
00:28 It dodged jagged rocks and towering boulders and plunged its arm into the loose surface,
00:34 excavating six tons of debris while collecting about 250 grams of material.
00:40 OSIRIS-REx stowed its bounty and closed its sample return capsule.
00:44 It bid farewell to Bennu in May 2021, embarking on a 1.2 billion mile cruise back to Earth.
00:51 Now, two years and four months after leaving Bennu, OSIRIS-REx is closing in on the place where its journey began.
00:59 [Music]
01:02 On September 24, the spacecraft will approach to nearly 63,000 miles from Earth.
01:08 It will power up and release its sample return capsule at 4.42 a.m. mountain time.
01:14 The capsule must be jettisoned within a narrow time frame and at just the right angle to hit its target,
01:19 an area of roughly 250 square miles in Utah's West Desert.
01:24 Once the capsule is away, OSIRIS-REx will fire its thrusters to avoid colliding with Earth.
01:31 At 8.42 a.m., the capsule will streak into the atmosphere at a blistering 27,000 miles per hour.
01:39 It will race across the western U.S. and begin to glow with heat,
01:42 allowing infrared trackers on the ground to chart its progress.
01:46 As it pushes deeper into the atmosphere, the capsule will rapidly decelerate,
01:51 subjecting the Bennu samples to a punishing 32 Gs.
01:55 About two minutes after entry, it will slow to Mach 1.4 and deploy its drogue parachute, stabilizing its descent.
02:02 The capsule will enter special use airspace at 8.46 a.m.,
02:06 almost 10 miles above the Department of Defense Utah Test and Training Range.
02:11 Radar stations will lock on and track it to within 30 feet of its landing site.
02:16 At 8.50 a.m., the capsule will extract and deploy its main parachute one mile above the ground.
02:22 It will make its final descent at a leisurely 11 miles per hour,
02:26 like a marathon runner savoring a victory lap, before touching down in the desert soil at 8.55.
02:35 After ground teams retrieve the capsule, the Bennu samples will be taken to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
02:42 The sample canister will be opened in the Astro Materials Acquisition and Curation Facility,
02:47 and the samples will be curated, distributed, and studied for decades to come.
02:53 Having delivered its cargo, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will depart Earth,
02:57 but its journey will not quite be finished.
03:00 In a daring encore, the renamed OSIRIS-APEX will enter an elliptical orbit of the sun,
03:06 repeatedly passing within the orbit of Venus and pushing the limits of its thermal design.
03:11 Beginning in 2029, it will chase down and investigate Apophis,
03:15 a 1,200-foot stony asteroid destined to make an exceptionally close flyby of Earth.
03:22 After 13 years in deep space, at the start of a new decade, alone on a new world,
03:28 the journey will continue.
03:31 (Music)
03:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]