NASA’s first asteroid sample touches down on Earth

NASA’s historic mission to collect samples from an asteroid culminated in a successful touchdown as the precious cargo parachuted into the Utah desert. The Osiris-Rex spacecraft, after a seven-year journey, released the sample capsule during a flyby of Earth from a distance of 63,000 miles (100,000 kilometers). The small capsule made its landing four hours later on a remote portion of military land, while the mothership continued its mission to explore another asteroid.

Mission Recovery Operations jubilantly declared, “We have touchdown!” but noted that the landing occurred three minutes ahead of schedule. Officials later revealed that the orange-striped parachute opened at a higher altitude than expected, approximately 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), based on the deceleration rate.

Fortunately, the capsule remained intact and uncontaminated, preserving samples of an asteroid that is approximately 4.5 billion years old. Within two hours of landing, the capsule was securely placed inside a temporary clean room at the Defense Department’s Utah Test and Training Range, transported there by helicopter.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who was in Utah for her own space capsule mission training, expressed her amazement, saying, “It’s like ‘Wow!’ This is just amazing. It can go from the movies, but this is reality.”

Scientists estimate that the capsule contains at least a cup’s worth of rubble from the carbon-rich asteroid known as Bennu. However, the exact quantity will only be confirmed once the container is opened in the coming days. Some material spilled and floated away during the collection process three years ago when the spacecraft inadvertently scooped up more material than intended, causing the container’s lid to become jammed.

Japan is the only other country to have successfully returned samples from an asteroid, collecting about a teaspoon during two asteroid missions. The pebbles and dust collected by Osiris-Rex represent the most substantial haul from beyond the moon. These preserved building blocks from the early stages of our solar system will provide valuable insights into the formation of Earth and life itself, offering “an extraordinary glimpse” into the conditions 4.5 billion years ago, according to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Osiris-Rex embarked on its $1 billion mission in 2016, reaching Bennu two years later. Using a long stick vacuum, the spacecraft collected rubble from the small, roundish space rock in 2020. By the time it returned to Earth, the spacecraft had traveled a staggering 4 billion miles (6.2 billion kilometers).

Flight controllers from spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin applauded as the capsule landed, and NASA’s cameras captured images of the charred capsule on the sand, upside down, with its parachute nearby, as the recovery team approached via helicopters.

British astronomer Daniel Brown, unaffiliated with the mission, anticipates “great things” from NASA’s largest sample return mission since the Apollo moon landings over half a century ago. He noted that with these asteroid samples, we are getting closer to understanding the early chemical composition, the formation of water, and the molecules upon which life is based.

Queen’s lead guitarist Brian May, also an astrophysicist, who couldn’t be present due to a concert tour rehearsal in England, sent a prerecorded message, saying, “My heart’s there with you as this precious sample is recovered. Happy Sample Return Day.”

The samples will be flown to a new lab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday morning, joining the hundreds of pounds (kilograms) of moon rocks gathered by the Apollo astronauts.

Dante Lauretta, the mission’s lead scientist from the University of Arizona, will accompany the samples to Texas. He emphasized that the real moment of truth will come when the container is opened in Houston, given the uncertainty regarding the quantity inside. Engineers estimate the canister holds 250 grams (8.82 ounces) of material from Bennu, plus or minus 100 grams (3.53 ounces), exceeding the mission’s minimum requirements.

Getting an exact measurement will take a few weeks, according to NASA’s lead curator Nicole Lunning.

NASA plans to hold a public show-and-tell event in October.

Currently orbiting the sun at a distance of 50 million miles (81 million kilometers) from Earth, Bennu is approximately one-third of a mile (one-half of a kilometer) in size, similar in dimensions to the Empire State Building but shaped like a spinning top. It is believed to be a fragmented remnant of a much larger asteroid.

Osiris-Rex’s close-up observations of Bennu, characterized by a surface full of boulders and craters, revealed its loose surface. The spacecraft’s vacuum arm even sank about a foot or two (0.5 meters) into the asteroid, collecting more material than initially expected.

This valuable data could prove crucial in the late 21st century when Bennu is expected to come dangerously close to Earth in 2182, potentially posing a collision risk. The information gathered by Osiris-Rex will be valuable for future asteroid-deflection efforts.

Osiris-Rex is now on its way to explore another asteroid, Apophis, and is expected to reach it in 2029.

This mission marks NASA’s third successful sample return from a deep-space robotic mission. The Genesis spacecraft collected bits of solar wind in 2004, but the samples were compromised when the parachute failed upon landing. The Stardust spacecraft successfully delivered comet dust in 2006.

NASA’s plans to return samples from Mars are currently on hold following a review that criticized the cost and complexity of the mission. The Perseverance rover on Mars has spent the past two years collecting core samples for eventual transport to Earth.