The cargo van-size spacecraft arrived in orbit around the asteroid Bennu in December 2018, providing detailed views of the spinning top-shaped space rock.
Other worldsA training model of the OSIRIS-REx mission's sample return capsule was released from an aircraft in August, simulating the upcoming recovery operations.
Keegan Barber/NASAThe OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will fly by Earth this weekend and drop off its precious sample from Bennu.
Watch as the sample capsule is set to plunge through Earth’s atmosphere and land in the Utah desert, with NASA’s live coverage beginning at 10 a.m.
As the capsule parachutes down, OSIRIS-REx will keep going, embarking on a new adventure to explore the asteroid Apophis.
Persons:
CNN —, REx, NASA’s, Keegan Barber, ”, Deutsches, Monopoly, you’re, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt
Organizations:
CNN, Rice University in Texas, Mechanical, Zimbabwe, Bochum, Iron, Swedish Museum of, Publishing, Andromeda Galaxy, CNN Space, Science
Locations:
Utah, Dürrnberg, Austria, Austrian, Zambia, Tasmania, Stockholm, Western Australia