Orlando, Florida – The first samples of an asteroid collected in space during a special NASA mission will return to Earth this Sunday, September 24.
The agency will broadcast a live broadcast of the origin, spectral description, resource identification, security and landing of the Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission capsule.
The broadcast will be live on September 24 at 10 am. The capsule is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at around 10:42 a.m. and then land in Utah.
In 2020, after two years orbiting the asteroid Bennu, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft used its robotic arm to collect pieces of space rock, reaching a historic milestone: collecting samples from an asteroid in space.
Meanwhile, Scientists say precious materials recovered from Bennu’s surface could reveal interesting information about how the solar system formed.
Asteroids are ancient collections of ancient materials that formed the Solar System about 4.5 billion years ago, so studying the chemical properties of space rocks can reveal secrets about the origins of life on planets and on Earth.
Bennu is more than 200 million miles from Earth, but has an orbit that can come within 4.6 million miles of the planet.
