Added Lauretta: “We have gotten used to being at Bennu and seeing new and exciting images and data coming back to us here on Earth.
Osiris-Rex was already nearly 200 miles (300 kilometers) from the solar-orbiting Bennu when it fired its main engines Monday afternoon for a fast, clean get-away.
Colorado-based flight controllers for spacecraft builder Lockheed Martin applauded when confirmation arrived of the spacecraft s departure: “We re bringing the samples home!”
Scientists hope to uncover some of the solar system’s secrets from the samples vacuumed last October from Bennu’s dark, rough, carbon-rich surface. The asteroid is an estimated 1,600 feet (490 meters) wide and 4.5 billion years old.
National News
May 11, 2021
FILE - This illustration provided by NASA depicts the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft at the asteroid Bennu. On Monday, May 10, 2021, the robotic explorer fired its engines, headed back to Earth with samples it collected from the asteroid, nearly 200 million miles away. (Conceptual Image Lab/Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA via AP)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) With rubble from an asteroid tucked inside, a NASA spacecraft fired its engines and began the long journey back to Earth on Monday, leaving the ancient space rock in its rearview mirror.
The trip home for the robotic prospector, Osiris-Rex, will take two years.
Spacecraft heads home with asteroid rubble
AP, CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida
With rubble from an asteroid tucked inside, a NASA spacecraft on Monday fired its engines and began the long journey back to Earth, leaving the ancient space rock in its rearview mirror.
The trip home for the robotic prospector the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or Osiris-Rex is to take two years.
Osiris-Rex reached asteroid Bennu in 2018 and spent two years flying near and around it, before collecting rubble from the surface last fall.
An undated illustration provided by NASA depicts the Osiris-Rex spacecraft at the asteroid Bennu.
NASA spacecraft begins 2-year trip home with asteroid rubble – Times News Online tnonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tnonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Arizona Republic
View Comments
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. With rubble from an asteroid tucked inside, a NASA spacecraft fired its engines and began the long journey back to Earth on Monday, leaving the ancient space rock in its rearview mirror.
The trip home for the robotic prospector, Osiris-Rex, will take two years.
Osiris-Rex reached asteroid Bennu in 2018 and spent two years flying near and around it, before collecting rubble from the surface last fall.
The University of Arizona’s Dante Lauretta, the principal scientist, estimates the spacecraft holds between a half pound and 1 pound of mostly bite-size chunks. Either way, it easily exceeds the target of at least 2 ounces.