On September 8, 2016, the OSIRIS-REx probe launched with a lofty goal to become NASA’s first mission to collect a sample from a near-Earth asteroid and bring it to our planet.
Each step of the seven-year journey has been an unexpected one, full of challenges and record-setting moments that are begging for the Hollywood treatment.
The cargo van-size spacecraft arrived in orbit around the asteroid Bennu in December 2018, providing detailed views of the spinning top-shaped space rock. Bennu is essentially a rubble pile held together by gravity.
And when OSIRIS-REx closely approached to collect a sample, the event revealed that the asteroid’s surface is like a pit of plastic balls — which could have engulfed the spacecraft had it not quickly backed away.
Now, the saga of a spacecraft that whirled around an asteroid is about to come to an end — and lead to a new, exciting chapter of exploration.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will fly by Earth this weekend and drop off its precious sample from Bennu.
Watch as the sample capsule is set to plunge through Earth’s atmosphere and land in the Utah desert, with NASA’s live coverage beginning at 10 a.m. ET Sunday.
As the capsule parachutes down, OSIRIS-REx will keep going, embarking on a new adventure to explore the asteroid Apophis.
Scientists will whisk the capsule away to a clean room to make sure the sample is safely tucked inside. The actual contents will be revealed to the public on October 11.
An analysis of the rocks and soil could lead to insights into the beginning of our solar system as well as the composition of near-Earth asteroids that could collide with our planet one day.
Reanimating dead spiders, discovering why scientists like licking rocks and determining the number of nose hairs in each of a person’s nostrils are just some of the research challenges tackled by the winners of the 2023 Ig Nobel Prizes.
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