After years of anticipation and hard work by NASA's OSIRIS-REx (Origin, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security - Rock Explorer) team, on September 24, a capsule of rocks and dust collected from the asteroid Bennu returned to Earth in a target area at the U.S. Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City.
This image of the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule still attached to the spacecraft's instrument deck was taken by the spacecraft's StowCam camera at 10:37:55 AM ET (14:37:55 UTC) on September 23, less than 24 hours after the capsule was released. StowCam is a color imager, one of three cameras that make up TAGCAMS (Touch-and-Go Camera System), which is part of the OSIRIS-REx guidance, navigation and control system. TAGCAMS is designed, manufactured and tested by Malin Space Science Systems; Lockheed Martin integrates TAGCAMS onto the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and is responsible for operating TAGCAMS. Source: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin
This black-and-white sequence photo of the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule landing on Earth comes from TAGCAMS's NavCam1 and was taken moments after the return capsule was released from the spacecraft on September 24, 2023. The Sun can be seen at the top of the frame, and a thin "Crescent Earth" can be seen at the left edge of the frame. OSIRIS-REx’s navigation camera is used for optical navigation of spacecraft. Navigator images track star fields and landmarks on Bennu to determine the spacecraft's position during mission operations. The images were processed to remove most of the scattered light, making details of the capsule and release debris clouds clearer and preventing saturation of Earth's new moon. Source: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lo
Hours before landing, OSIRIS-REX conducted final observations of its sample return capsule. Doppler data confirmed that the spacecraft released the sample capsule to Earth as planned from a distance of 63,000 miles from the Earth's surface (about one-third of the distance from the Earth to the moon).
Shortly after landing in Utah's Great Salt Lake Desert on September 24, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule left a scorch mark in the Earth's atmosphere. Shortly after this photo was taken, the capsule was transported to a temporary clean room at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range, then flown to Houston on September 26 for shipment to NASA's Johnson Space Center. Image credit: NASA/Keegan-Barber
After flying aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft on September 26, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule was delivered to a custom clean room at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Meanwhile, the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft (on a new mission, with a new name) is flying toward the asteroid Apophis, where it will arrive in 2029.