The spacecraft OSIRIS-REx will soon say goodbye to the asteroid Bennu. NASA announced that OSIRIS-REx will begin its journey back to our planet on May 10, two-and-a-half years after arranging with the near-Earth asteroid. The agency launched the spacecraft in 2016 to collect samples from Bennu in the hope that analyzing the materials could give us more insight into the formation of the Solar System and into the beginnings of life here on earth.
OSIRIS-REx observed the surface of the asteroid months after the encounter to find the perfect place for the collection of samples. In October 2020, it finally touched the surface of the space rock just long enough to pick up samples of regolith that scientists can investigate. In fact, it grabs more than the 60-gram mission claim, so the sample container started leaking and NASA had to speed up the process of securing it.
Michael Moreau, deputy project manager at OSIRIS-REx, explained that the departure to Earth in May “puts the mission in the ‘sweet spot’ when the departure maneuver will consume the least amount of fuel on board the spacecraft.” Before the spacecraft completely leaves the rock, studying it for the past few years, it could fly again in early April.
The OSIRIS-REx team is currently investigating whether it is possible to do an airport again, which will give it a way to gather data on how the touch-and-go sample collection affects Bennu’s surface has. It will also give the team the chance to assess the condition of the spacecraft’s instruments, including its cameras and spectrometers. OSIRIS-REx is expected to deliver the samples it collected in September 2023. As the Earth approaches, the spacecraft will land the monster container that lands in Utah using parachutes.