NASA's OSIRIS-REx Locked-and-Loaded with Asteroid Bennu's Sample; Now En-Route Back to Planet!

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission finally accomplishes its journey and expedition on the recently concluded touch-and-go (TAG) landing on Asteroid 101955, also known as "Bennu," to collect samples for research and study. NASA aims to discover more of the universe's origin with the space rock's sample that is perceived as the key to the Solar System's existence and secrets.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) deems the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft perform a job well-done, with Earth-based hands controlling the mission from afar. The team's effort was four days in the making, beginning the stowing procedure last Saturday, October 24, and finishing only by Wednesday, October 28.

NASA: OSIRIS-REx, a Mission Accomplished

According to NASA's press release, OSIRIS-REx's mission was a joint effort among the space agency and its partners from the University of Arizona, NASA Goddard, Lockheed Martin, SCaN, and Deep Space Network employees from JPL. The team worked non-stop to maintain an excellent connection to the spacecraft and monitor its every move in the mission's "most challenging mission."

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, a.k.a. "OSIRIS-REx," is now locked-and-loaded and ready for transport back to Earth. Currently, the spacecraft lander is preparing itself for a more than the two-year journey from Asteroid Bennu and back. The lander and its cargo's estimated time of arrival would be in 2023.

The Touch-and-Go (TAG) landing by the OSIRIS-REx successfully landed on the asteroid last week, October 20, which NASA aired live for the public to witness. The space agency emphasizes OSIRIS-REx's mission because of its significance in learning more about the Solar System's origins and discovering the planet's existence.

The OSIRIS-REx's Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) is the main challenge of NASA's team that endured a four-day procedure to stow the Sample Return Capsule (SRC). The process was grueling for NASA's team to ensure that there would be no leaks upon loading it into the spacecraft.

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OSIRIS-REx and Asteroid Bennu's Exploration: 7 Years in the Making

The OSIRIS-REx and the SRC's return on Earth would complete a grueling journey and mission of seven years of traveling and surveying the space rubble. NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is seven years in the making, beginning in 2016, and would soon conclude its triumphant return to the planet by 2023.

The OSIRIS-REx Mission was first conceptualized in 2004, during the early discovery of Asteroid Bennu and investigating its carbon-rich surface that would be the perfect sample to describe the Solar System's composition. NASA's team believes that Asteroid Bennu existed since the early days of the universe, hurling itself around the region before turning into space rubble.

NASA believes that Asteroid Bennu possesses "planet building blocks" on its surface; that is why the space agency created a highly sophisticated mission and spacecraft to journey the space rubble around 200 million miles (321 million kilometers) away from the planet. OSIRIS-REx would soon come, bringing Bennu's sample and serve as the foundation to uncover the Solar System's secrets.

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Written by Isaiah Alonzo