NASA’s asteroid-sampling OSIRIS-REx probe will return to Earth in May

The OSIRIS-REx rocket will before long say bid asteroid Bennu farewell. NASA has reported that OSIRIS-REx will begin its journey back to our planet on May tenth, more than two years after it rendezvoused with the close Earth space rock.

The agency dispatched the spacecraft back in 2016 to gather tests from Bennu with the expectation that investigating the materials could give us more understanding into the development of the Solar System and into the start of life here on Earth.

OSIRIS-REx noticed the space rock’s surface for quite a long time after the meeting to locate the ideal site for test assortment. In October 2020, it at last contacted the space rock’s surface sufficiently long to gather up examples of regolith that researchers can analyze.

Truth be told, it got more than the mission’s prerequisite of 60 grams, which is the reason the example holder began leaking and NASA needed to accelerate the cycle to make sure about it.

Michael Moreau, OSIRIS-REx agent project supervisor, clarified that leaving for Earth in May puts the mission “in the ‘sweet spot,’ when the departure maneuver will consume the least amount of the spacecraft’s onboard fuel.” Before the spacecraft totally leaves the stone it’s been reading for as far back as couple of years, however, it might do one more flyby toward the beginning of April.

The OSIRIS-REx group is as of now considering whether it’s doable to do another flyby, which will give it an approach to assemble information on what the tricky example assortment meant for Bennu’s surface.

It would likewise allow the group to evaluate the condition of the shuttle’s instruments, including its cameras and spectrometers. OSIRIS-REx is required to convey the examples it gathered in September 2023. As it approaches Earth, the rocket will jettison the sample container, which will land with the assistance of parachutes in Utah.