NASA's OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Confirms Sample Return Capsule Departure

This image of the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule, still attached to the spacecraft’s instrument deck, was taken less than 24 hours ago on September 23 at 10:37:55 a.m. EDT (14:37 UTC) 55 seconds) by the spacecraft’s StowCam camera. release of the capsule. StowCam, a color imager, is one of three cameras that make up TAGCAMES (Touch and Go Camera System), part of OSIRIS-REx’s guidance, navigation, and control system. TAGCAMES was designed, built, and tested by Malin Space Science Systems. Lockheed Martin integrated her TAGCAMS on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and operates TAGCAMS.Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

After years of anticipation and hard work by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) team, a capsule of rocks and dust collected from the asteroid Bennu will arrive on Earth on September 24th. Returned to target area. The Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City.

A few hours before landing, OSIRIS-REx captured the final view of its sample return capsule.

This black-and-white sequence of Osiris-Rex’s sample return capsule descending toward Earth is from TAGCAMS’s NavCam 1, captured moments after the capsule was ejected from the spacecraft on September 24, 2023. I did. The sun can be seen at the top. A thin “crescent-shaped Earth” can be seen on the left edge of the image. OSIRIS-REx’s NavCam will be used for the spacecraft’s optical navigation. NavCam images tracked Bennu’s starry sky and landmarks to determine the spacecraft’s position during mission operations. This series of images has been processed to remove most of the scattered sunlight, reveal details of the capsule, release clouds of debris, and prevent Earth’s crescent from becoming saturated.Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

Following its flight by a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft on September 26, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule was transported to a custom-built clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Meanwhile, the Osiris-Apex spacecraft is on a new mission with a new name, en route to the asteroid Apophis, arriving in 2029.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft confirms sample return capsule departure — The Osiris-Rex sample return capsule, charred as it passed through Earth’s atmosphere, is shown here shortly after landing in Utah’s Great Salt Lake Desert on September 24. Shortly after this photo was taken, the capsule was taken to a temporary clean room at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range, and on September 26, it flew to Houston, where it was transported to NASA’s Johnson Space Center.Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

Quote: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Views Sample Return Capsule Departure (October 4, 2023), https://phys.org/news/2023-10-nasa-osiris-rex-spacecraft-views-sample.html Retrieved October 4, 2023 from

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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft confirms sample return capsule departure

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