In six years, a NASA space capsule is scheduled to land at western Utah’s Test and Training Range, floating down to Earth under a parachute.
Scientists hope that tucked inside will be a small chunk of material scraped from the surface of the asteroid Bennu. It would be the first time a sample taken from an asteroid has been returned to Earth.
The rock and dust measuring several ounces may contain novel clues about how life began on our planet, and about formation of the early solar system in general. It also, scientists say, should improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth in coming years.
Bennu, about 1,600 feet wide, is a fragment left over from our solar system’s formation about 4.5 billion years ago, says NASA. It is nearby Earth and follows a similar orbit.
The SUV-sized spacecraft now en-route to Bennu is called OSIRIS-REx, and it launched from Florida a year ago. The aircraft contains several instruments to map and measure the asteroid, including cameras, a telescope — and an 11-foot robotic arm that will contact the surface of Bennu in July 2020 and grab some material, according to NASA.
OSIRIS-REx won’t close in on Bennu until next year. But to test the photographic ability of its MapCam — a camera that will map the asteroid’s surface in different colors — the camera last week snapped a striking composite image of Earth.
“This is a great preview of what we’ll get when we get to the asteroid,” University of Arizona professor Dante Lauretta said at a Tuesday news conference in Tucson, according to the Arizona Republic. Lauretta is principal investigator on the $1 billion mission.
The spacecraft captured the image shortly after carrying out a “gravity assist.” The technique caused it to slingshot around our planet at 19,000 miles per hour and gain speed en route to the asteroid. It placed the spacecraft on the right trajectory to meet up with Bennu.
OSIRIS-REx will head for home in March 2021. And almost exactly six years from now, on Sept. 24, 2023 — following a 4.4 billion mile trip — the spacecraft will drop off the capsule and head out into deep space, according to it manufacturer, Lockheed Martin.
The capsule will then blast through the atmosphere at nearly 28,000 mph and, if all goes to plan, float down to Utah’s West Desert.
On Friday, I flew close to home for #EarthGravityAssist. On this date in 2023, I'll be back--to deliver a sample of #asteroid Bennu! pic.twitter.com/d2untSr8zR
— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) September 24, 2017