Oct 29, 2020 - Science

NASA spacecraft stows sample of asteroid to bring back to Earth

Miriam Kramer

A side by side of osiris rex stowing its sample — A before (left) and after of OSIRIS-REx stowing its sample. Photo: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully tucked away a large sample of the asteroid Bennu for safe-keeping ahead of its eventual return to Earth.

Why it matters: Scientists on Earth plan to use the sample to unlock the secrets of how our solar system formed billions of years ago.

The intrigue: OSIRIS-REx nabbed what appeared to be a sizable sample from the asteroid on Oct. 20, but that sampling jammed up the spacecraft's machinery, allowing some of the material to escape into space.

That forced NASA to stow the sample before they were able to get an exact measurement of how much they actually collected.
Mission controllers successfully completed stowing the sample on Wednesday.
"We can visually confirm an estimated, approximately 400 grams of sample that we can see in the imaging data," Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator said during a press conference Thursday. (NASA wanted to collect at least 60 grams of material.)

What's next: The spacecraft is expected to start its journey back to Earth in March 2021, delivering the sample to waiting scientists in 2023.

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NASA spacecraft stows sample of asteroid to bring back to Earth

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