CNN —An asteroid sample stowed inside a NASA spacecraft is about to reach Earth after traveling for nearly 2½ years across space. It’s NASA’s first time collecting and returning an asteroid sample from space. Teams have been rehearsing how to retrieve the sample, originally collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, when it drops down into the Utah desert on September 24. Keegan Barber/NASAThe mission’s original goal was to retrieve a pristine asteroid sample. The team has also prepared for different landing scenarios, such as a hard landing where the capsule containing the sample opens unexpectedly.

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Persons: NASA’s, REx, ”, Nicola Fox, ” It’s, Keegan Barber, Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS, “, Rich Burns, ” Burns, Burns, Sandra Freund, Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Freund, Molly Wasser, Kevin Righter, curation, Christopher Snead, ” Snead, ” Lauretta Organizations: CNN, NASA, Goddard, University of Arizona, Department of Defense's Utah, Department of Defense’s Utah, Goddard Space Flight, Lockheed, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Space, Apollo, Space Center, Canadian Space Agency, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency Locations: Utah, Bennu, Tucson, Salt Lake City, Greenbelt , Maryland, Houston, Johnson