The Booty Report

Arrr! A monstrous asteroid, as tall as the Empire State Building, be aimin' to make a grand entrance in Utah's desert!

2023-09-22

Arr, me hearties! Avast ye now! NASA's grand ship OSIRIS-REx be arrivin' back to our fair Earth this very weekend, laden with precious space dust. 'Tis been three long years since they plundered that asteroid, and now they be sharin' their cosmic booty with us landlubbers. Aye, 'tis a grand time to be a plunderer of the stars!

After seven years in space and traveling billions of miles, a capsule containing asteroid samples is set to return to Earth. NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which launched in 2016, will detach the capsule containing rocks, dust, and dirt collected from the asteroid Bennu before crashing in Utah. The mission aims to help scientists understand planet formation and the origins of life, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth. There is a small chance that Bennu could collide with Earth in the future, so studying the asteroid is crucial for planetary defense.
The historic touchdown of the NASA capsule comes after years of research and data gathering. The spacecraft arrived at Bennu in 2018 and spent two years studying the asteroid before making a historic landing on its surface in 2020, collecting a record-breaking sample despite encountering some technical difficulties. Once the capsule lands in Utah, the material will be brought to a clean room and then transported to NASA's Johnson Space Center for further analysis.
Most of the asteroid material will be preserved for future research, with NASA and international scientists studying the remaining portions. In exchange for samples collected by the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft, part of the sample will be given to the Japanese Space Exploration Agency. OSIRIS-REx will continue its mission to study another asteroid named Apophis, symbolizing evil and chaos in ancient Egyptian mythology.

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