NASA’s first attempt to recover the asteroid sample capsule via the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has begun its journey to Earth.
NASA’s spacecraft will return a small planet Samples arriving at Earth are eventually bound to the indoor side. The asteroid sample will be returned to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Regolith Explorer) next year in 2023.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft began its journey in 2021 and it is now expected to return a sample of the asteroid ‘Bennu’ on September 24, 2023. As reported by Phys. org, OSIRIS-REx, fired its thrusters for 30 seconds on September 21.
To ensure the safe transport of the capsule containing the Bennu sample to the earth’s atmosphere, Mike Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland says spacecraft must approach The earth at a specific speed and in the right direction. He explained that if the capsule tilted too high, it would fly out of the atmosphere while at a low angle, Earth’s atmosphere would burn it up.
The spacecraft left asteroid Bennu on May 10, 2021, and since then it has changed course for the first time. Based on NASAit will pass the earth at a distance of about 2,200 km on its current journey.
“We will eventually shift the OSIRIS-REx orbit next year to direct the spacecraft closer to Earth. We have to cross Earth’s orbit at the same time that Earth will be there,” KinetX Inc.’s orbital and maneuvering design lead Daniel Wibben said in a statement.
The spacecraft is capable of reaching Earth for about 250 km (250 km), close enough for the sample capsule to be released into the atmosphere for a precision parachute landing.
The WE The space agency is working closely with the Air Force and Army to practice capsule retrieval and transportation to on-site facilities within Utah, report by Phys.org.
