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An asteroid sample collected by NASA has touched down on Earth, giving scientists the opportunity to learn more about the origins of the solar system and capturing a piece of a massive space rock that has a chance of colliding with our planet in the future. It\u2019s the first time the agency has accomplished such a feat.\xa0

Seven years after launching to space, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft flew by Earth Sunday to deliver the pristine sample from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu.\xa0

OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, lifted off in 2016 and began orbiting Bennu in 2018. The spacecraft collected the sample in 2020 and set off on its lengthy return trip to Earth in May 2021. The mission traveled 3.86 billion miles total to Bennu and back.\xa0

The spacecraft dropped the sample capsule \u2014 containing an estimated 8.8 ounces of asteroid rocks and soil \u2014 from a distance of 63,000 miles (102,000 kilometers) above Earth\u2019s surface early Sunday, and entered the planet\u2019s atmosphere at 10:42 a.m. ET while traveling at a speed of about 27,650 miles per hour (44,498 kilometers per hour).\xa0

Parachutes deployed to slow the capsule to a gentle touchdown at 11 miles per hour (17.7 kilometers per hour). The sample landed in the Defense Department\u2019s Utah Test and Training Range about 10 minutes after entering the atmosphere.\xa0

\u201cCongratulations to the OSIRIS-REx team. You did it,\u201d said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. \u201cIt brought something extraordinary, the largest asteroid sample ever received on Earth. This mission proves that NASA does big things, things that inspire us, things that unite us. It wasn\u2019t mission impossible. It was the impossible that became possible.\u201d\xa0

OSIRIS-REx is continuing its tour of the solar system \u2014 the spacecraft has already set off to capture a detailed look at a different asteroid named Apophis.\xa0

The mission now has a new name: OSIRIS-APEX, for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-APophis EXplorer.\xa0

Four helicopters transported recovery and research\xa0teams to the landing site and conducted assessments to make sure the capsule wasn\u2019t damaged in any way, said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The team confirmed that the capsule was not breached during landing.\xa0

Recovery teams, which have been\xa0training for the event for months, retrieved the capsule once it was safe, said Sandra Freund, OSIRIS-REx program manager at Lockheed Martin Space, which partnered with NASA to build the spacecraft, provide flight operations and help recover the 100-pound capsule.\xa0

The initial recovery team, outfitted with protective gloves and masks, ensured that the capsule was cool enough to touch, given that it reached temperatures up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) during reentry, Burns said. The team also ensured the capsule\u2019s battery didn\u2019t rupture and leak any toxic fumes.\xa0

A science team collected samples from the landing site, including air, dust and dirt particles.\xa0

\u201cOne of the key scientific objectives of OSIRIS-REx is to return a pristine sample and pristine means that no foreign materials hamper our investigation during sample analysis,\u201d said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson. \u201cAs unlikely as it is, we do want to make sure any materials that are out there in the Utah range that may interact with the sample are well documented.\u201d\xa0

A helicopter carried the sample in a cargo net and delivered it to a temporary clean room near the landing site. Within this space, the curation team will conduct a nitrogen flow, called a purge, to prevent any of Earth\u2019s atmosphere from entering the sample canister and contaminating it. The larger pieces of the capsule will be stripped away, said Nicole Lunning, OSIRIS-REx curation lead at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston.\xa0

A team will prepare the sample canister for transport on a C-17 aircraft to NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday. Scientists expect to remove the lid to see the sample for the first time on Tuesday.\xa0

Details about the sample will be revealed through a NASA broadcast from Johnson Space Center on October 11. While the science team will not have had time to fully assess the sample, the researchers plan to collect some fine-grained material at the top of canister Tuesday for a quick analysis that can be shared in October, Lauretta said.\xa0

Scientists will analyze the rocks and soil for the next two years at a dedicated clean room inside Johnson Space Center. The sample will also be divided up and sent to laboratories around the globe, including OSIRIS-REx mission partners at the Canadian Space Agency and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. About 70% of the sample will remain pristine in storage so future generations with better technology can learn even more than what\u2019s now possible.\xa0

If a government shutdown occurs, \u201cit will not endanger the curation and safe handling of the asteroid sample,\u201d said Lori Glaze, director for NASA\u2019s Planetary Sciences Division.\xa0

\u201cCertain steps leading to this highly anticipated analysis will possibly be delayed, but the sample will remain protected and safe despite any disruptions to the schedule,\u201d she said during a news conference Friday. \u201cThe sample has waited for more than 4 billion years for humans to study it and if it takes us a little longer, I think we\u2019ll be OK.\u201d\xa0

Along with a\xa0previously returned sample of the asteroid Ryugu\xa0from Japan\u2019s Hayabusa2 mission, the rocks and soil could reveal key information about the beginning of our solar system. Scientists believe that carbonaceous asteroids such as Bennu crashed into Earth early during the planet\u2019s formation, delivering elements like water.\xa0

\u201cScientists believe that the asteroid Bennu is representative of the solar system\u2019s own oldest materials forged in large dying stars and supernova explosions,\u201d Glaze said. \u201cAnd for this reason, NASA is investing in these missions devoted to small bodies to increase our understanding of how our solar system formed and how it evolved.\u201d\xa0

But the sample can also provide insights into Bennu, which has a chance of colliding with Earth in the future.\xa0

It\u2019s crucial to understand more about the population of near-Earth asteroids that may be on an eventual collision course with our planet. A better grasp of their composition and orbits is key to predicting which asteroids may have the closest approaches to Earth and when \u2014 and essential to developing methods of deflecting these asteroids based on their composition.\xa0

- by Ashley Strickland, CNN

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