Early morning on Sunday, Sept. 24, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft's sample capsule will come face-to-face with Earth's atmosphere for the first time since the mission's 2016 launch. On board are an estimated 8.8 ounces, or 250 grams, of rocky material collected from the surface of Bennu in 2020—NASA's first asteroid sample and the largest ever collected in space.
When it approaches Earth, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft won't slow down as it makes its sample drop-off. Instead, when it reaches 63,000 miles above Earth's surface—about one-third the distance from Earth to the moon—a message from operators on the ground will trigger the's release and the capsule will be sent spinning toward the atmosphere below.
will help to regulate the temperature inside the capsule, keeping the sample safe at a temperature similar to that of Bennu's surface.designed to provide a stable transition to subsonic speeds will deploy first, about 2 minutes after the capsule enters the atmosphere. Six minutes later—at about 1 mile above the desert—the main chute will unfurl, carrying the capsule the rest of the way to a 36-mile by 8.5-mile area on the military range.
About 20 minutes before the capsule lands, when it is still high above the veil of Earth's atmosphere, the recovery field team will board four helicopters and head out into the desert. The infrared glow of the capsule's heat signature will be tracked by thermal instruments until the capsule becomes visible to, giving the recovery team a way to trace the capsule's Earthbound path.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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