NASA OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has started its long journey back home after collecting samples from asteroid Bennu. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft is carrying material from the asteroid in the first-of-its-kind mission by the space agency.
“After nearly 5 years in space, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is heading to Earth with a sample of rocks and dust from a 4.5-billion-years-old asteroid!” NASA tweeted on May 10.
200 million miles long journey
The space agency also live-streamed the event when confirmation came through to the team that the spacecraft has successfully departed Bennu’s orbit and has embarked on a journey back to Earth which is 320 million km.
To begin its journey back home, the spacecraft fired its main engines at full power for 7 minutes. NASA described it as the spacecraft’s “most significant maneuver since it arrived at Bennu in 2018.”
The OSIRIS-Rex will perform a flyby of Earth in September 2023. It will drop a capsule of material from an asteroid that is believed to have formed in the first 10 million years of our Solar System’s existence. The samples will help astronomers understand the formation of our Solar System and might also give insights into the origins of life.
Astonishing feat for OSIRIS-REx
The Bennu asteroid is around 500 meters long and is hurtling at a speed of 63,000 mph. to collect its samples, the spacecraft had to touch down on the asteroid and use its robotic arm to gather material.
“OSIRIS-REx’s many accomplishments demonstrated the daring and innovate the way in which exploration unfolds in real-time,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA headquarters. “The team rose to the challenge, and now we have a primordial piece of our solar system headed back to Earth where many generations of researchers can unlock its secrets.”
This also marks the first time NASA has collected a sample from an asteroid, it has already been done before. Japanese space agency achieved this feat in 2019 with its Hayabusa2 spacecraft and gather samples from the Ryugu asteroid. The samples were delivered to Earth last year.
