After 7 years, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission successfully returns asteroid sample
After 7 years, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission successfully returns asteroid sample
The sample return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission touched down in the desert on September 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. NASA/Keegan Barber hide caption
The sample return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission touched down in the desert on September 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
NASA/Keegan BarberIn 2016, NASA launched a spacecraft to do something rarely attempted before: Collect space rocks from a potentially dangerous asteroid. The mission, named OSIRIS-REx, was successful. Tuesday, scientists opened a sealed canister containing the samples from the asteroid Bennu.
Science correspondent Nell Greenfieledboyce talks to host Regina G. Barber about the mission's close calls and what NASA might learn from these space rocks that are older than our planet.
Click here to read Nell's full story.
Listen to Short Wave on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Have a space mystery? Send us your questions to shortwave@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Berly McCoy edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Carmel Wroth. It was fact checked by Nell Greenfieledboyce and Anil Oza. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.