A NASA capsule carrying the largest soil sample ever collected from an asteroid is due to return to Earth on Sunday, expected to streak through the atmosphere and parachute into the Utah desert to deliver its celestial specimen to scientists.
The robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to release the gumdrop-shaped capsule, transporting about a cup of gravelly asteroid material, at 6:42 a.m. EDT for a final descent to Earth, climaxing a seven-year voyage.
OSIRIS-REx collected its specimen from Bennu, a small, carbon-rich asteroid discovered in 1999 and classified as a "near-Earth object" because it passes relatively close to our planet every six years, though the odds of an impact are considered remote. The spacecraft departed Bennu in May 2021 for a 1.2-billion-mile cruise back to Earth, including two orbits around the sun. If mission control commands the release of the sample-return capsule as planned, it will be jettisoned within 67,000 miles of Earth for the final leg of its return flight.
The Bennu sample is estimated at 250 grams , far surpassing the 5 grams of material carried back from Ryugu in 2020 or the tiny specimen delivered from asteroid Itokawa in 2010.
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