Doppler data showed that NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft released the sample capsule to Earth at 6:42 a.m. ET (4:42 a.m. CT) from a distance of 63,000 miles above the Earth's surface (about one-third of the distance from the Earth to the moon) as planned.

This illustration depicts NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft having just released its sample capsule to Earth. Image source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

After about four hours in space, the capsule will enter the atmosphere near the coast of California at 10:42 a.m. ET (8:42 a.m. CT) and then fly east. About 13 minutes later, the capsule will land in a predetermined 36-mile by 8.5-mile area at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City.

The military range covers approximately 1.5 million acres in the Great Salt Lake Desert, which is flat, relatively barren, and largely uninhabited. (NASA's Stardust mission landed a sample capsule of particles from comet Wild 2 at the Utah range in 2006.)

OSIRIS-REx is NASA's first asteroid sample return mission. It was launched in September 2016 and embarked on a journey to explore a near-Earth asteroid called "Bennu". In October 2020, the spacecraft ventured to the surface of the asteroid and collected about 250 grams of material, ready to be sent to Earth. On September 24, 2023, OSIRIS-REx will release a capsule containing Bennu samples and land in the Utah desert, which will be a thrilling finale to the mission. Image source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Imaging Laboratory

About an hour before release, during an important team briefing, operators gave the green light for the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to release the sample module. The chief engineer and military personnel agreed. They carefully evaluated a series of basic criteria:

Will the capsule land in the designated target area? The answer is yes.

Do the latest predictions of the peak heat and deceleration levels that spacecraft will face live up to expectations? The answer is also yes.

Is the spacecraft ready to dispatch a capsule and subsequently detach itself from Earth? Yes.

Is the entire team prepared for the day's events? Yes.

Has the landing range been determined? Yes.

Engineers at Lockheed Martin's Denver Mission Support Area then sent critical release instructions to OSIRIS-REx. This action set the stage for the spacecraft to release the capsule at approximately 6:42 a.m. ET (4:42 a.m. CT).

NASA's OSIRIS-REx is the first U.S. mission to return asteroid samples to Earth. Upon landing, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will release the sample capsule, allowing it to land safely in the Utah desert. The raw material from asteroid Bennu - rocks and dust collected from the asteroid's surface in 2020 - will provide generations of scientists with a window into the time when the sun and planets were formed about 4.5 billion years ago. Source: NASA

NASA's live broadcast of the OSIRIS-REx capsule landing will begin at 10 a.m. ET (8 a.m. CT) on Sunday, September 24, and will be available on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the NASA website.