![]() The team confirmed that the capsule was not breached during landing. The mission now has a new name: OSIRIS-APEX, for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-APophis EXplorer.įour helicopters transported recovery and research teams to the landing site and conducted assessments to make sure the capsule wasn’t damaged in any way, said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. OSIRIS-REx is continuing its tour of the solar system - the spacecraft has already set off to capture a detailed look at a different asteroid named Apophis. It was the impossible that became possible.” This mission proves that NASA does big things, things that inspire us, things that unite us. “It brought something extraordinary, the largest asteroid sample ever received on Earth. ![]() You did it,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. The sample landed in the Defense Department’s Utah Test and Training Range about 10 minutes after entering the atmosphere, a few minutes ahead of schedule. Parachutes deployed to slow the capsule to a gentle touchdown at 11 miles per hour (17.7 kilometers per hour). ET while traveling at a speed of about 27,650 miles per hour (44,498 kilometers per hour). The spacecraft dropped the sample capsule - containing an estimated 8.8 ounces of asteroid rocks and soil - from a distance of 63,000 miles (102,000 kilometers) above Earth’s surface early Sunday, and entered the planet’s atmosphere at 10:42 a.m. "Amateur astronomers in the southern hemisphere and at low northern latitudes should be able to see this asteroid using moderate size telescopes with apertures of at least eight inches in the nights leading up to closest approach, but they will probably need star charts to find it.The spacecraft collected a sample of rocks and dirt from Bennu in October 2020. "The asteroid will be brightest while it moves through southern skies, Chodas said. "By studying the spectrum of light reflecting off the surface, astronomers can measure the chemical 'fingerprints' of the minerals on the surface of the asteroid."Īmateur astronomers in some parts of the globe should be able to conduct their own observations. "When sunlight hits an asteroid's surface, minerals in the rock absorb some wavelengths while reflecting others," NASA said. NASA said astronomers hope to get a better understanding of the asteroid's size and a rough idea of its composition by studying light reflecting off its surface. "Currently, little is known about this object, so the very close encounter provides an outstanding opportunity to learn a great deal about this asteroid," said Lance Benner, principal scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA said 2001 FO32 will pass by at about 77,000 miles per hour faster than the speed at which most asteroids encounter Earth. That is roughly 5.25 times the distance of the Earth from the Moon but still close enough for 2001 FO32 to be classified as a "potentially hazardous asteroid." "There is no chance the asteroid will get any closer to Earth than 1.25 million miles." "We know the orbital path of 2001 FO32 around the Sun very accurately," said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies.
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