On Sunday, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft flew by Earth and dropped a sample of steroid Bennu to Utah's West Desert. NASA scientists hope the sample will include clues to the origins of the universe.
Dante Lauretta, the OSIRIS-REx principal investigator from the University of Arizona, is all smiles as he gets ready to depart on a helicopter to the sample capsule recovery site in Utah’s West Desert on Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023.A NASA capsule returning more than 200 million miles from the surface of asteroid Bennu, which scientists hope contains clues to the origins of our universe, landed among the sand and scrub of Utah’s West Desert on Sunday morning.
The successful landing of the sample capsule, which NASA officials estimate includes around 8 ounces of rocks and minerals from Bennu, is the first such mission conducted by the United States. The NASA filming helicopter that will document the arrival of the capsule containing rocks and minerals from the surface of asteroid Bennu, gets ready to depart to the landing ellipse in Utah’s West Desert at Utah Test and Training Range on Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023.Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security-Regolith Explorer
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