Bennu's gift - 6th October 2023

Touching down in the Utah desert, after a seven year voyage, the Osiris-Rex capsule safely landed, carrying on board the largest asteroid sample ever retrieved from space.

"And touchdown of the Osiris-Rex sample return capsule. A journey of a billion miles to asteroid Bennu and back has come to an end."

Despite weighing 250 grams, scientists are eager to crack open the canister containing the haul, obtained from asteroid Bennu, as expressed by principal scientist of Osiris-Rex, Dante Lauretta.

Dante Lauretta: "So we think we've got a lot of sample in that, in that science canister and we can't wait to, to crack into it. For me, the real science is just beginning."

The asteroid sample promises greater insight into the origins of our solar system and the evolution of the Earth to its habitable state. Thus, maintaining the sample's integrity by preventing any form of contamination, is paramount.

Dante Lauretta: "The key objective for me and one of the driving objectives of this programme, is to try to understand that carbon rich asteroids, like Bennu, deliver the compounds that may have led to the origin of life on our planet. The origin of Earth is a habitable world. And so, we don't want biological organisms interacting with this. So, we plan to exclude it from any contact with bacteria or anything else that might compromise our scientific investigation."

Information gleaned from examining the asteroid dust could mean greater security for Earth. Regarded as one of the biggest threats in the universe to the Earth, Bennu has a high probability of colliding with the planet within the next century, given its current trajectory. Deepening our understanding of the asteroid's carbon rich composition could leverage our chances of diverting its current path towards us.

Taking into account more advanced technology and new techniques in the future, scientists have reserved seventy percent of the asteroid sample for future generations of scientists to continue uncovering more secrets of our universe.

Until such revelations, Lauretta's content with the fruits of his labour.

Dante Lauretta: "And then, we heard 'main chute detected', and I literally broke into tears. I mean, and I'm probably gonna do it right now just thinking about it, because that was the moment I knew we made it home. And you know, I'm weary at this point. I've been thinking about this and focusing on it and all of my energy and all my will has gone into making this thing a success. And I knew the moment the chute opened, that was it. We knew what to do from that point forward. There was no surprises left. And it was overwhelming relief, gratitude, pride, awe."