Home » PHOTO OF THE DAY: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule Lands in the Utah Desert

PHOTO OF THE DAY: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule Lands in the Utah Desert

By  //  September 26, 2023

sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in Oct. 2020

The sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is seen shortly after touching down in the desert, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. (NASA image)

(NASA) – The sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is seen shortly after touching down in the desert, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range.

The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.

The Bennu sample – an estimated 8.8 ounces, or 250 grams – will be transported in its unopened canister by aircraft to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday, Sept. 25.

Curation scientists there will disassemble the canister, extract and weigh the sample, create an inventory of the rocks and dust, and, over time, distribute pieces of Bennu to scientists worldwide.

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