OSIRIS-REx is now coming back to Earth

(OSIRIS-REx and Bennu / NASA)

The space probe OSIRIS-REx left the asteroid Bennu and began a return flight to Earth.

The reentry capsule with asteroid soil is expected to land at a test site in Utah on September 24, 2023.

OSIRIS-REx was launched into space in the fall of 2016, and at the end of 2018 arrived at the 500-meter near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu.

The collected data should give scientists information about the processes that took place in the early solar system and the role of carbonaceous asteroids in the origin of life on Earth.

During 2.5 years of work near the asteroid, the mission mapped it, determined its properties, and found out that Bennu was active.

The probe also found broken boulders, fragments of the asteroid West and organic matter on its surface, and also traced the course of its evolution.

Last year, the ship took soil from the northern hemisphere of the asteroid.

Despite the loss of part of the sample, the total mass of the collected material was about 400 grams, which is more than expected.

On May 10, 2021, OSIRIS-REx turned on its ion thrusters for 7 minutes, thus starting the return flight to Earth.

It is expected that upon approaching our planet, the spaceship will drop a reentry capsule into its atmosphere, which is to land at a test site in Utah on September 24, 2023.

After opening, the soil will be divided into several parts: for direct study, for storage and for distribution to laboratories around the world.

Source:

• NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-osiris-rex-spacecraft-heads-for-earth-with-asteroid-sample/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NASASolarSystem/status/1391849740069912576?s=20

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