The material collected by the OSRIS-REx spacecraft three years ago from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu was to be unveiled at NASA's Johnston Space Center in Houston, a little more than two weeks after it was parachuted into the Utah desert.
The landing of the return capsule capped a six-year joint mission of the U.S. space agency and the University of Arizona.
It was only the third asteroid sample, and by far the biggest, ever returned to Earth for analysis, following two similar missions by Japan's space agency ending in 2010 and 2020.
At the time it landed, the Bennu sample was estimated to weigh about 100 to 250 grams (3.5 to 8.8 ounces).
Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
Keegan, REx, NASA's, Johnson, Samples, Steve Gorman, Will Dunham
Organizations:
NASA, Department of Defense's Utah, Space Center, University of Arizona, Utah Test, Empire, Thomson
Locations:
Dugway , Utah, U.S, Houston, Utah, Ryugu, Los Angeles