Container containing asteroid samples arrives at Johnson Space Center NASA “OSIRIS-REx” mission update | sorae satellite portal website

On September 25, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that the sample container removed from the recovery capsule that returned to Earth from the OSIRIS-REx asteroid exploration mission will be launched in 2023 (Japan time). It arrived in Houston, Texas, where NASA’s Johnson Space Center is located, on September 26.[26 سبتمبر 2023 الساعة 2:00 ظهرًا]

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, also known as the “American Hayabusa”, was launched in September 2016 and arrived at asteroid 101955 Bennu in December 2018. After repeated observations from orbit, samples were collected from the surface in October 2020, and since leaving Bennu in May 2021 , continued flying towards the ground.

The recovery capsule containing the Bennu samples will detach from the spacecraft at 19:42 on September 24, 2023, Japan time, and will reenter the Earth’s atmosphere about 4 hours later. The aircraft landed successfully at the test and training range in Utah, USA, at 23:52 Japan time on the same day.

Related:[محدث]NASA’s asteroid probe capsule lands! OSIRIS-REx Earth Return Bulletin (September 24, 2023)

According to NASA, the recovery team was expected to take 40 hours to find the capsule, but the team actually took 20 hours to find the capsule, as footage was captured of the opening of the parachute and the location of the capsule landing from above, and it arrived within minutes. After Lockheed Martin engineers, wearing gas masks and heat-resistant gloves, examined the condition of the capsule, they placed covers on the hatches and other installed openings to adjust the air pressure inside the capsule to prevent contamination of samples with the Earth’s environment.

[▲ كبسولة التعافي OSIRIS-REx معلقة من طائرة هليكوبتر لنقلها إلى الغرفة النظيفة (مصدر الصورة: NASA/Keegan Barber)]

After ensuring that the surrounding area was safe, the capsule was wrapped in a tarpaulin and lifted into a helicopter, arriving at the Utah Test and Training Range at 1:37 a.m. on September 25, 2023, Japan time. The capsule was moved to a temporarily prepared clean room, where the capsule was emptied and nitrogen gas was poured into the sample container (which contained the tip of the OSIRIS-REx robot arm that captured the Bennu sample). Meanwhile, scientists from NASA and the University of Arizona remain at the landing site after the capsule is delivered, collecting soil and air samples that may have contaminated the samples.

[▲ فريق المعالجة يقوم بتفريغ كبسولة التعافي في الغرفة النظيفة التي تم إنشاؤها في نطاق الاختبار والتدريب في ولاية يوتا (مصدر الصورة: NASA/Keegan Barber)]

The next day, September 25, local time, the shipping container containing the sample container was airlifted by a C-17 transport aircraft, landing at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas at 1:40 a.m. Japan time on September 26, 2023. Transported to NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

The Johnson Space Center has a clean room dedicated to the OSIRIS-REx mission. The container containing the Bennu samples will be disassembled into a glove box in a clean room, where processing, including initial characterization, storage, and distribution of the samples to researchers around the world will take place. Seventy percent of the samples will be preserved for future researchers.

[▲AcargocontainerbeingairliftedbyaC-17transportaircraftcontainingtheBennusamplecontainerthedisassembledrecoverycapsuleandenvironmentalsamplescollectedfromthecapsulelandingsite(Imagesource:NASA/MollyWasser)[▲حاويةشحنيتمنقلهاجواًبواسطةطائرةنقلمنطرازC-17تحتويعلىحاويةعينةبينو،وكبسولةالاستردادالمفككة،والعيناتالبيئيةالتيتمجمعهامنموقعهبوطالكبسولة(مصدرالصورةNASA/MollyWasser)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will provide part of the sample from asteroid 162173 Ryugu and part of the Bennu sample collected and recovered by the Hayabusa 2 asteroid probe mission. We have entered into a matching exchange agreement, and samples from Bennu will also be distributed to Japanese research teams.

In addition, the OSIRIS-REx mission has transitioned to an extended mission “OSIRIS-APEX” to explore the orbit of asteroid 99942 Apophis, and the spacecraft itself will re-enter the atmosphere. The plane has left its oncoming course and continues to do so. Her journey. It is scheduled to arrive at Apophis in 2029.

[▲InsidethecleanroomoftheOSIRIS-RExmissionattheJohnsonSpaceCenterphotographedonJune222023beforethecapsulereturned(Credit:NASA/JamesBlair)[▲داخلالغرفةالنظيفةلمهمةOSIRIS-RExفيمركزجونسونالفضائيتمالتصويرفي22يونيو/حزيران2023،قبلعودةالكبسولة(Credit:NASA/JamesBlair)

source

• Image credit: NASA, Keegan Barber, Molly Wasser, James Blair
• NASA – OSIRIS-REx mission (NASA Blogs)

Text Editing/Syrian Studies Department