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OSIRIS-REx Returning Asteroid Bennu Samples To Earth
Space.com
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01/07/2025
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is scheduled to return samples of Asteroid Bennu to Earth.
Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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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,
00:55
OSIRIS-REx is closing in on the place where its journey began.
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 timeframe 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.
01:38
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,
01:50
subjecting the Bennu samples to a punishing 32 Gs.
01:54
About two minutes after entry, it will slow to Mach 1.4 and deploy its drogue parachute, stabilizing its descent.
02:01
The capsule will enter special-use airspace at 8.46 a.m., 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, like a marathon runner savoring a victory lap,
02:28
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,
03:05
repeatedly passing within the orbit of Venus and pushing the limits of its thermal design.
03:10
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.
03:20
After 13 years in deep space, at the start of a new decade, alone on a new world, the journey will continue.
03:30
That unit will continue.
03:31
While vraiment musical testing will continue.
03:37
darkness
03:38
chio some
03:40
darkness
03:43
press
03:45
trials
03:48
bells
03:49
bells
03:51
bells
03:53
arenthç¥
03:55
ron
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