NASA Unveils Asteroid Sample Retrieved from Space

This artist's concept shows the OSIRIS-REx (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer) spacecraft contacting the asteroid Bennu with the Touch-And-Go Sample Arm Mechanism or TAGSAM. The mission aims to return a sample of Bennu's surface coating to Earth for study as well as return detailed information about the asteroid and it's trajectory.

Credits: NASA

The first asteroid sample collected in space and brought to Earth by the United States will be unveiled at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston on Wednesday, Oct. 11, and media accreditation is now open.

NASA will host a news conference at 11 a.m. EDT for the reveal, which will air live on NASA Television, theNASA app, and the agencyswebsite.

During the event, NASAs OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security Regolith Explorer) science team will discuss an initial analysis of the sample, which is expected to land on Sunday, Sept. 24, in the Utah desert.

After the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft enters Earths atmosphere and safely lands, NASA experts will collect the rocks and dust retrieved from the asteroid Bennu inside the capsule, and bring the sample to NASA Johnson for examination in a pristine curation facility.

News conference participants include:

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
Francis McCubbin, OSIRIS-REx deputy curation lead, NASA Johnson
Daniel Glavin, OSIRIS-REx sample analysis lead, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt
Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator, University of Arizona, Tucson

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