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Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REX)

    NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Samples Now Available to World’s Scientists

    An image of a pizza-wedge-shaped, silver-colored tray with the pointy end at the top center of the image. In the tray is a pile of small, dark rocks and dust that fill most of the tray. Toward the left bottom corner of the tray is a larger rock that is slightly lighter in color and roughly shaped like a heart on its side.

    Scientists outside of NASA's OSIRIS-REx team are getting their first close look at the asteroid Bennu samples available for independent research just six months after their delivery to Earth. The curation team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston has released the OSIRIS-REx sample catalog detailing the small rocks and dust that scientists around the …

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    NASA Announces OSIRIS-REx Bulk Sample Mass

    Silver metal wheel-shaped container with black-gray regolith inside the pie-shaped container areas

    NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivered 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams) of material from asteroid Bennu when it returned to Earth on Sep. 24, 2023; the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space and over twice the mission's requirement. The mission team needed at least 60 grams of material to meet the mission's science goals, an amount that …

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    NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Team Clears Hurdle to Access Remaining Bennu Sample

    Curation team members at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston have successfully removed the two fasteners from the sampler head that had prevented the remainder of OSIRIS-REx's asteroid Bennu sample material from being accessed. Steps now are underway to complete the disassembly of the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism, or TAGSAM, head to reveal the rest …

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    NASA Finds Likely Cause of OSIRIS-REx Parachute Deployment Sequence

    NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule landed under parachute in the Utah desert on Sept. 24, 2023, and safely delivered a cannister of rocks and dust collected from near-Earth asteroid Bennu. Although the delivery was successful, the landing sequence did not go entirely according to plan, with a small parachute called a drogue not deploying as …

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    NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Achieves Sample Mass Milestone

    The curation team processing NASA's asteroid Bennu sample has removed and collected 2.48 ounces (70.3 grams) of rocks and dust from the sampler hardware – surpassing the agency's goal of bringing at least 60 grams to Earth. And the good news is, there's still more of NASA's OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith …

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    NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Curation Steps Closer to Final Reveal

    Five people in blue clean room gowns and white gloves stand around a glove box with a circular sample head inside.

    As the astromaterials curation team at NASA's Johnson Space Center continues to collect the bonus asteroid Bennu particles located outside the OSIRIS-REx TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) head, they've also completed additional steps toward disassembly and reveal of the bulk asteroid sample inside the head. Curation scientists removed 14 circular witness plates from the top …

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    NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Views Sample Return Capsule’s Departure

    a vaguely muffin-shaped capsule, with a copper-brown base and an off-white top, against the black backdrop of space

    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 asteroid Bennu returned to Earth on Sept. 24 in a targeted area of the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City. …

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    Initial Curation of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Sample

    A silver capsule is opened inside a glovebox surrounded by technicians gowned in blue protective suits

    The initial curation process for NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample of asteroid Bennu is moving slower than anticipated, but for the best reason: the sample runneth over. The abundance of material found when the science canister lid was removed earlier this week has meant that the process of disassembling the TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) head – …

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    The OSIRIS-REx Sample Canister Lid is Removed

    Lockheed Martin Recovery Specialists, Levi Hanish and Michael Kaye remove the lid of the sample return cannister. Credit: NASA/Robert Markowiz

    NASA scientists found dark powder and sand-sized particles on the avionics deck of the OSIRIS-REx science canister when the initial lid was removed today. The canister from the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule was delivered to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Sept. 25 after landing in the Utah desert on Sept. 24. Johnson houses …

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