You're looking at
live pictures of the sky
above the Utah test
and training range
in less than an hour,
a four and a half
a billion year
old piece of the ancient
solar system
will be landing
here in the desert.
This is live coverage of NASA's
Osiris-rex sample return.
There's been nothing
like Osiris-rex
in NASA's repertoire.
I like to call it
the Daredevil spacecraft.
10 seconds.
Nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three,
two, one.
And liftoff.
The most serious Rex.
Its seventh year mission
to boldly
go to the asteroid
Bennu and back.
Welcome
and thank you for joining us
live from the Army's Dugway
Proving Ground in Dugway, Utah.
This is
special coverage of America's
first asteroid sample
return mission osiris-rex
as it arrives
back to Earth
after more than seven years
traveling in deep space.
I'm Lauren Ward.
And joining me is Dr.
Jim Garvin,
chief scientist at NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center.
He's a planetary geologist
by training
and also probably
one of the most excited
people around here today.
Literally, I'm
over the asteroid
better than over the
moon, over the asteroid.
Well, I'm excited to share
the stage with you today.
We've got a lot to discuss
and a huge adventure
straight ahead.
And for those joining at home,
Jim and I will be taking
your questions
live throughout the show.
You can send those our way
by using the hashtag Ask
X which
and if you want
to follow along, that's fine.
I want to ask you all
to check out NASA's
eyes on the solar system,
where you can view
a complete 3D simulation
and follow the Osiris-rex
sample return
capsule to the ground.
And during the broadcast,
you'll hear directly
from the mission team.
So listen
very closely
for those operational call outs
before we get into the action,
though.
Tell me, Jim,
what are you
most excited about?
Laurent It's
the masterpiece of engineering
we have here.
Just think about this.
In 50 years, we've gone from
from bringing things
on the moon back with crews
to all robotic
sample return for science.
That's literally beyond words.
It's sublime,
so we can't wait
to see what we're going to.
We cannot wait.
So OSIRIS-REX is an acronym
for Origins
Spectral Interpretation
to identify Purity.
REGULUS Explorer.
Yes, it's a mouthful,
but the mission describes
an audacious objective
Send a probe on a long journey
to an asteroid, map
it, grab a sample,
then bring it back to Earth
for analysis.
Following launch on September
8th, 2016,
the plucky probe took
an extraordinary route
through the solar system
until it reached
the asteroid Bennu.
Then, after more than a year
of mapping the surface
in exquisite detail,
Osiris Matt
Rex made a careful descent
in October 2020
to collect a sample.
Three years later,
we are here at Dugway
Proving Ground
in the deserts of northeast
northeast Utah, rather
awaiting that capsule
containing the sample,
which experts tell us
is essentially a time
capsule of the ancient
solar system.
We've got a great team
joining us this morning
as we experience
this thrilling conclusion
of this grand adventure.
Sophia Roberts is located
near our landing zone
and she'll be speaking
with some key players.
And we'll
also hear from James truly,
who will be tracking
mission operations
and bringing us
real time updates.
Essentially, our eyes
and ears inside
mission control,
which sounds to me
like a good place
to jump into the story.
James, good morning.
How are we looking?
Yeah, good morning, Leon.
And Jim.
It's already
been a very bright
early morning
for all of our team members
involved in this mission.
Just a little bit further
north from us about 4 hours ago
in Waterton, Colorado,
the team met to assess
the readiness
to release the RC
from the main
Osiris-rex spacecraft.
And I'm very happy to report
that they gave the green light
that gave the GO
command officially
to release the CRC
from the OSIRIS-REX.
Let's listen to on what
they can do. It sounded like
that command came after
more than four
almost 4 billion miles
of spaceflight
and years of planning,
plotting and dreaming
about this asteroid. Bennu.
The CRC has now been separated
from the main
Osiris-rex spacecraft
and is coming in
rain or shine today.
So team
members are keenly aware
of the weather conditions
out on the range.
It's looking pretty
great for today.
We did have a bit of rain
the other day
which softened up
that landing spot
just enough to make the
CRC land
perfectly smooth
on that surface.
The temperatures are
going to be around the fifties,
50 degree
Fahrenheit, low winds out
there, calm
winds at the surface
around six miles an hour.
Pretty light,
very clear skies
this morning as well.
As we were actually
driving out,
I saw a shooting
star, a meteor.
And in just a few moments,
the CRC itself
will be streaking
across the skies
as we begin to track it.
Just a few moments ago,
we heard the helicopters
take off from here
to head out to wait
just at the edge
of the landing ellipse,
our high altitude
plane is up in the sky,
ready to take images
in the infrared of our SIRC.
And we are here
ready to go to cover
all of today's mission events.
I'm going to be right here
with you
all throughout the process
as we get closer to that entry,
descent and landing.
But for now, back to you
learning, Jim.
All right.
Thanks, James.
We'll be back to you
for mission status updates
throughout the morning.
For now,
let's give you a quick
geography lesson
on where we are today.
We are sitting about 85 miles
southwest of Salt Lake City
in the heart of the Dugway
Proving Ground,
a historic Army facility.
In less than an hour,
the sample will touch down
in our landing ellipse
at the Utah Test
and Training range,
managed by the Air Force
about 13 miles north of where
we're speaking right now.
Mission teams have set up
a clean room
just one mile away from us,
where the sample will end
its journey today.
Tomorrow morning, a C-17
aircraft will take off
from the runway
behind us
and deliver the sample
to NASA's Johnson
Space Center in Houston.
Unbelievable. Can't wait.
Oh, gosh.
I can't wait to see that C-17.
That's going to
be breathtaking.
We have a lot
of ground to cover
and we'll be bringing you
into the heart of the action
for all of NASA's
many missions
over the years,
Osiris-rex lives
in an extremely rare category.
It not only ventured
out into space
with cameras and sensors,
but it's bringing
a physical sample
of the ancient solar system
back to Earth
for a detailed analysis.
Mission planners selected
a small asteroid called
Bennu as their destination,
following a successful
touch and go procedure
to grab a sample
on October 20th, 2020.
Osiris-rex
has been making its
way back to Earth.
It's been a thrilling
ride, already
packed with
technical achievements
and scientific discoveries.
Today's historic landing
continues that saga
promising
exciting research ahead.
Beside our main event
this morning,
we've got a ton
of extremely cool stuff.
We'll hear
from a special guest,
astrophysicist,
this whom
you probably recognize
more for his chart toppers.
We'll speak with one of the
helicopter pilots
about his role
in getting recovery
teams out to the landing site
and bringing the
capsule back home.
And we'll even hear
from the cast of the film
Asteroid City.
And, of course,
we'll give you a front row
seat to the mission itself,
the science,
the engineering
and why a mission to gather
space rocks.
Well, rocks, right.
NASA's first
asteroid sample
return happens
in less than 35 minutes.
Let's now
take you to a big mountain
where our field
reporter, Sophia
Roberts, is standing
at the forward
edge of the vast landing zone
where she joins us live now.
So thank you, Anderson.
Lord and Jim.
Now, it is a bright
and chilly morning,
but the excitement
certainly is rising.
Now, let me give you
a lay of the land of
what is going to happen today.
The sample return capsule
is going to hit
the top of the atmosphere
at approximately 840.
It will descend
through our atmosphere
for 13 minutes
before touchdown.
Once it does touchdown,
our team
with a recovery team
will go to the sample
or the capsule
and start
that carefully rehearsed
recovery process.
Now I am on the edge
of the landing zone
that we called the Ellipse.
It is a huge landing zone
that is larger
than the size of Rhode Island.
And behind me
are the helicopters
that will be taking
those recovery
teams to the capsule
once it lands.
Now, these teams are prepped
and ready to go.
We are just waiting
for that capsule to arrive.
Back to you, Lauren.
Well, Sophia, I
think she has the best seat.
Oh, my God. Take me.
Take me there.
I want to go there.
All right,
let's get some quick facts
about the Osiris-rex spacecraft
filled with fuel.
The vehicle weighs
more than 40 £600.
That's about the same size
as three large cows.
Did you know that?
I did not.
And I'm afraid of those cows.
Let's stay away from the cows.
With its solar arrays extended,
the spacecraft
is about 40 feet long
or the size of a
short school bus.
The solar arrays
can power up to 3000 watts,
which is the same
as a portable generator.
Once on Bennu, the 11 foot
robotic arm collected
dust and pebbles samples
while the cameras got up close
images of the asteroid.
How about that?
And then,
of course,
there's the RC
or the sample return capsule.
The capsule
that separated from
the main vehicle
is currently on its way
to our landing zone
in the Utah desert.
So, Jim, I think importantly,
the team can't just open up
the capsule
right on the desert floor.
Right. What happens next?
So next, we have to save it.
We have to bag it.
We have to contain it
and transported
to the clean room
about a mile from here.
And in that clean room,
we will actually bring
the sample return capsule in,
take off their back shell
and the heat shield,
and carefully
arrange to nitrogen purge
that special sample
container inside
so it does not introduce
any contamination from Earth
because we want asteroid,
not earth. That's right.
And I love missions like this
because I find my
own imagination just bursting
with possibilities
and questions.
And so with about a little bit
more than 30 minutes to go
before the SLC hits
the top of the atmosphere,
we're going to take
a few minutes
to dive into the nuts
and bolts of the mission
itself.
We've got a great mission
over here to help explain.
Take a look.
Osiris-rex is
NASA's first asteroid
sample return mission.
It launched in September 2016
on a journey
to explore
a near-Earth asteroid
called Bennu.
After arriving in 2018,
Osiris-rex spent
nearly two years
orbiting Bennu,
mapping and studying
its rugged terrain
before carrying out
its primary science objective.
On October 20th, 2020.
The spacecraft ventured
to a small crater
in the asteroid's
northern hemisphere.
It dodged jagged rocks
and towering boulders
and plunged its arm
into the loose
surface, excavating
six tons of debris
while collecting
about 250 grams of material.
Osiris-rex stowed its bounty
and closed its sample
return capsule.
It bid farewell
to Bennu in May 2021,
embarking on a 1.2
billion mile
cruise back to Earth.
Now, two years
and four months
after leaving Bennu,
Osiris-rex is closing in on the
place where its journey began
on September 24th.
The spacecraft will approach
to nearly
63,000 miles from Earth.
It will power up and release
its sample return capsule
at 4:42 a.m. Mountain Time.
The capsule must be jettisoned
within a narrow time frame
and at just the right angle
to hit its target,
an area of roughly
250 square miles
in Utah's West Desert.
Once the capsule is away,
Osiris-rex will fire
its thrusters
to avoid colliding with Earth
at 8:42 a.m..
The council will streak
into the atmosphere
at a blistering
27,000 miles per hour.
It will race across
the western U.S.
and begin to glow with heat,
allowing infrared trackers
on the ground
to chart its progress
as it pushes
deeper into the atmosphere.
The capsule will
rapidly decelerate.
Subjecting the bennu samples
to a punishing 32 GS
about 2 minutes after entry,
it will slow to Mach 1.4
and deploy
its drogue parachute,
stabilizing its descent.
The capsule will enter special
use airspace at 8:46 a.m.,
almost ten miles
above the department of Defense
Utah Test and Training range.
Radar stations
will lock on
and track it to
within 30 feet
of its landing site
at 8:50 a.m..
The capsule will extract
and deploy its main parachute
one mile above the ground.
It will make its final descent
into leisurely 11
miles per hour
like a marathon runner
savoring a victory lap
before touching down in the
desert soil at 855.
Wow.
I get chills every
time I meet you. Amazing.
All right.
So we know you have questions,
so please continue
to send them to us
using the hashtag, ask Nassar.
But before we go any further,
I have got a question
for you, Jim.
Why is the mission
called Osiris-rex?
It sounds like a new hybrid
kind of dinosaur or something.
It does,
but it's actually the name
of an Egyptian deity,
A bird deity.
But it means all the stuff
the mission is
going to be doing.
So we're going to be
searching for clues
to the origins
of our solar system, chemically
looking at how
we can ground truth.
All the data we have
for asteroids
from Earth, other spacecraft
right up close with samples.
We're going to look
at the resource
potential of asteroids,
metals, hydrated water
and hydrated minerals
and also consider
security of our planet
from these kinds of objects.
It's a big name
with a big mission,
with many things it has to do.
It's multiple missions and one.
Yeah, three missions and one.
In fact.
We know we have
a global audience
for this event.
And throughout the morning
we'll be taking questions
submitted via social media.
So let's take one now.
All right.
What do we have
at S for Michael
Underscore B asks,
what's the significance
of studying asteroids
like bennu for advancements
in planetary science?
These are
that literally the time
capsules
of the early solar system.
With those bits and fragments,
we can never get here.
So we go and bring them home
to connect ourselves
to the place
we live, our solar system.
So that's one of the big
takeaways of this.
We will
read the clues of Mother Nature
on how our world works
in the context of all the rest
of the planetary system.
Fantastic.
All right,
let's take another question.
What do we have?
All right.
From at end Danger 817,
approximately how
large is the sample size
and what kind of analysis
will be performed?
So it's about eight
or nine ounces.
It's about
the size of a baseball
and a half.
And the kind of an ounce
is are amazing.
There are toolkits
and instruments
that can look at
nanoscale characteristics
that you wouldn't imagine.
We could see the
hairs on a layer,
on a on a foot of an ant,
but we'll look at those
in the context
of another object
in the solar system. So. Wow.
Wow, indeed.
All right.
We'll be taking
some more questions
throughout the morning.
Okay.
So let us
head back to the Ellipse
to talk to Sophia.
I understand, Sophia,
you've got a critical team
member with you.
Take it away.
Thanks, Lauren.
Yes, I am joined right now
by Stu Wiley, who is the Oscar
or on scene commander
of this recovery mission.
Thank you for joining me, Stu.
Thanks for having me, Sophia.
All right.
So you are the person who
kicks off
this whole process before
even the recovery team
gets on the ground.
Can you walk us
through your process?
Yes.
So essentially
what's going to happen
is that once
the capsule is under shoot,
we'll have a better idea
of where it's
going to land on the range.
And based on that, I'll know
exactly
what kind of weapons systems
we used in that area
or what kind of tests
we've done in that area.
So I'll know better
what kind of hazards
are in the area.
Once I land on the ground,
I'll do an initial
sweep of the area
and methodically move
towards the the capsule
and mark
any kind of hazards
that I find, whether it be
munition hazards, of course,
and or the industrial hazards
and and even the environmental
sensitive areas
that we have out here. So, Art.
And how did you prepare
for this today?
So preparation has been a long
in the process for a long time
between myself
and Jazmin Nakayama.
We've got 40 years
worth of explosive knowledge.
Most of it is on
this range here.
So we know the ranges
very well.
The
the team and
and the shooter
have been working together,
both Lockheed and RCA,
and we've been doing rehearsals
so that we are more familiar
with their capsule
and they're more familiar
with our terrain here.
It's as well.
Yeah.
So
and this is an active
proving ground here.
So what are the other steps
that we have to ensure
that our teams are safe?
Yeah.
So this
at the Utah testing
trading range,
we do have a lot of different
hazards out here.
Like I said, the weapon
systems that we test,
we're going to keep
them safe from that.
We have again done
many of the preparations
with them already.
They've taken safety briefings.
They've been
briefed on the actual items
that we've dropped out here
in their range safety brief.
One of the hazards
that we're going to
be dealing with,
though, is the helicopters
that you see behind us.
And they've
been through practices
getting on and off
the helicopters
and working in and around them.
And but I think
the biggest hazard
that we're going to
have is slipping.
We had some recent rain.
So that I think,
is going to be our
biggest hazard.
But it could be fun, too, so.
Well, wonderful.
I know that you have
your last
preparations for the day,
so I'm going to let you go.
And thank you very much
for joining us. Thank you.
Thanks, Sophia.
Stuart, got a big day to day.
Oh, my goodness.
All right, Jim,
we know we have space fans
from all walks of life
all over the world.
One super fan in particular
is a well-known
astrophysicist
with an atypical side hustle.
But I'm guessing you know him.
Probably more no more him.
Probably more
from his side thing
than his science thing.
Well, that's right.
He's literally space
royalty and rock royalty.
Perfect for a mission
to bring back Rock.
Just a true rock star.
Let's let him speak
for himself.
Hello, NASA folks.
Space fans,
asteroid aficionados.
This is Brian May
of Queen,
as you know, probably,
but also immensely
proud
to be a team member of
a Sirius Rex.
I can't be with you today.
I wish I could.
And rehearsing
for a Queen tour.
But my heart's there with you.
As this precious
sample is recovered.
Happy sample return day.
And congratulations
to all who worked
so incredibly hard
on this mission,
especially my dear
friend Dante,
with whom we already created
this beautiful book.
God bless you all.
Speaking of rock stars,
joining us is NASA's
Lori Glaze, planetary
science mission director.
Welcome, Lori.
Hey, good
to have you here, Lori.
And you and Jim go back
quite a ways, right?
Oh, yes.
Jim and I actually go back
several decades,
but we've been working together
closely for many, many years.
And it's so good
to see you here.
Lori,
It is a really exciting day.
So Osiris-rex
is part of a larger autumn
for asteroid asteroid's
asteroid autumn,
as we've been saying.
Can you talk about
some of the other missions
that are happening this fall?
Happy to do that.
It is really exciting.
We have lots of
asteroid missions
and actually
four of them have
major milestones
coming up this autumn,
right on the heels
of the sample return
happening today.
In two days on September 26
is the one year
anniversary of a little mission
you may have heard of
last year
called the double asteroid
redirection test,
demonstrating
for the first time
humanity's ability
to deflect
the path of an asteroid.
How cool is that?
And then coming up on October
5th is the launch of a mission
called Psyche.
Going to visit
a special asteroid
called Psyche, also,
which is one of only about nine
of asteroids that are
we think are made
primarily of metal,
have a very high metal content,
iron and nickel.
And then about a month
after that, on November 1st
is going to be
the first asteroid flyby
of our mission called Lucy,
which will ultimately visit
Trojan asteroids
that lead and trail
Jupiter in its orbit
around the sun.
But in November will fly
by a main belt
asteroid called Lincoln.
Wow.
Wow. Check that out.
It literally is an asteroid on.
But Laurie, one of the thing
you know, I wasn't,
you know,
is a multipurpose mission.
All this great stuff.
You mentioned.
And one of its key jobs
is to help us
with planetary defense.
How does it do that
way out there?
So actually, Osiris-rex
gave us some really important
new information
about a tech that a
an effect of force
that occurs on asteroids
called the Yarkovsky effect.
And what that really is, is
we know there's gravitational
pulls on the asteroids
and we can predict that with
our trajectories.
But Yarkovsky effect
says that
the sun's radiation heats up
one side of the asteroid,
and then as the asteroid
rotates, the radiation radiates
off into the deep space.
And that actually kind of acts
as a force
that kind of pushes back
against the forward trajectory.
And so it changes
our predictions
on where the asteroid
might be over time.
It really makes a difference.
And Osiris-rex
gave us some fantastic
new measurements
on that effect. Unbelievable.
Wow.
That is truly unbelievable.
Nobody appreciates
the planetary defense expert
more than Jim Webb.
We want to be safe. Right.
Really, really quickly here.
You know,
this isn't the end
for osiris-rex.
What's what's what's next?
Yeah. So really exciting.
Now that the spacecraft
has released
the capsule successfully,
about 20 minutes
after that release,
we're now
repurposing the spacecraft
for a new mission
called Osiris Apex,
where Apex stands
for Apophis Explorer.
And it's off
on its new mission
to explore
the asteroid Apophis,
which is going to have
a close flyby of Earth in 2029.
CHRIS Stay tuned.
Every many.
That is fantastic.
Well,
thank you so much, Luther.
Sorry.
You're going to stick around
for the show, right?
Oh, absolutely.
Absolutely. Okay.
This will be the biggest U.S.
sample return
since the Apollo
mission to the moon.
But this is not the first time
that anyone has captured
a piece of an asteroid.
On the arrival of the
historic Osiris-rex sample,
we celebrate that
the Japanese space agency
or JAXA, has already visited
two asteroids
Itokawa in 2005
and the asteroid due in 2019.
The measures
the mission's
Hayabusa and Hayabusa2
proved that it could be done
and paved the way
for today's ambitious goals
of this daring enterprise.
All right, let's
send it back over to James
for an update
on mission operations.
Go ahead, James.
Yeah, Thanks, Lance.
So everything
continues to be nominal.
I've been tracking the mission
status here.
Everyone looks dialed
in, ready to go.
You saw a few moments ago
Sofia with Steve
Wiley are on scene.
Commander. He's ready to go.
He understands the mission.
They are ready to get out
and recover that sample today.
And as I mentioned earlier,
just a few moments ago,
actually,
I guess a couple of hours ago
at this point now,
the CRC was released
from the main
OSIRIS-REX spacecraft.
When that release took place.
It was given an initial spin,
which kind of preserves
its angular momentum,
its speed as it's coming in
to Earth's atmosphere.
It's similar
to throwing a perfect spiral
on a football,
and teams are hoping for that
perfect touchdown today.
What you're about to see
is basically the equivalent
of throwing a touchdown
pass over
ten football fields away
and landing it
perfectly in that end zone.
So you can see on your screen
now the mission operations team
there just next door,
dialed in, ready to go.
There have been monitoring
the vitals of the CRC
all morning.
They've been there in the room
prepared and ready to go.
I'm sure they are
absolutely thrilled
for this moment.
They might even see themselves
on the screen
there in a second,
but they are
hype and ready to go.
This is the Lockheed
Martin team
just a little bit north of us
in Waterton, Colorado.
They are also Donlin.
They're the ones who gave
that initial command
this morning
to release
the CRC from the main
OSIRIS-REX spacecraft.
You just heard from Lori
that Osiris-rex
is now on its way
to its extended
mission,
Osiris Apex
visiting that near-Earth
asteroid Apophis.
A lot coming up in
just a few moments,
we're going to hit that key
milestone of entry,
descent and landing
30 minutes of punishing descent
through Earth's atmosphere
to us here
in the Utah Test
and training Range.
A lot
coming up in
just a few moments.
But for now, back to you.
Learning, Jim.
Thanks, James.
Very soon,
NASA's Artemis program
will be bringing us
more cosmic samples
to study
by visiting a familiar
beacon in the sky.
Give us 60 seconds
and we'll give you the moon.
Artemis three will be
the first sample return
mission of NASA's
Artemis program.
Sampling rocks
and regolith
from one of 13
candidate regions on the moon.
All located
near the Lunar South Pole.
The Apollo lunar landers
returned a treasure
chest of samples that taught us
about the history
of the solar system,
dating back
about 4 billion years ago.
Part of this
missions will explore
areas near the South
Pole on the rim of the moon's
oldest basin,
the enormous South
Pole Aiken Basin.
Artemus will explore
areas nearly
1 billion years older than
those explored by Apollo
lunar samples
from Artemus three.
And future missions
will help scientists interpret
the impact history of the Moon
and Earth,
as well as increase
our understanding
of planetary processes.
Osiris-rex The first U.S.
mission to collect
a sample from an asteroid
will return samples
from asteroid BENNU.
The rocks and dust collected
will offer generations
of scientists
a window into a time
when the sun and planets
were forming over
4.5 billion years ago.
Samples from Osiris-rex
and Artemus
could rewrite
our understanding
of the evolution
of the solar system.
And that's a
look at your Artemus
more minute,
boy.
Jim, how can you
not get excited? Oh, my gosh.
Oh, boy.
That's going to be so cool.
All right.
Sofia is standing
at the forward edge
of the recovery zone
with an update.
Take it away, Sofia.
All right.
Thank you, Lauren.
We are under 20 minutes away
from EDL.
That is entry, descent
and landing.
And I don't think there's
anyone here on planet Earth
who has anticipated
this day
more than the
principal investigator
of the mission.
Dante Lauretta,
thank you for giving us
time here today.
My pleasure.
It's great to be here.
All right.
So you were here
on Wig Mountain
because you were
on the recovery team.
That's right.
Can you walk us through
what you're going to
be doing today?
So I'm
part of the environmental
sampling group from day one.
This mission has paid attention
to keeping that
sample pristine.
And we're going to come down.
We had some rain on Thursday.
Most likely
we're going to be encountering
mud out there.
We're also interested
in the air quality
and any water
that might be standing
just so in the very rare event
that any of that material
somehow comes into contact
with the sample,
we have a record of it
and it won't compromise
our science. Oh, wonderful.
And I think one of the
really exciting things
about a mission like this,
especially with you
working with
the University of Arizona,
is that you're partnering
with educational institutes.
And so can you talk
a little bit
about who legacy
that a mission like this has?
Yeah, Thank you.
I'm a professor
at the University of Arizona
in the Lunar
and Planetary Laboratory.
And our history goes
all the way back
to the Apollo missions.
The founder of our lab,
Gerard Kuiper, mapped
the moon, helped
pick the Apollo landing sites
in the surveyor landing sites.
And we have been involved
in every major NASA's
planetary mission since then.
And really the best part
of having a university
lead a program like this is
that it's a great
training ground
for the next generation.
I've been on this program
almost 20 years
and I've watched multiple
generations of students
grow up,
become professionals,
either join the team,
we always take,
you know,
our team members on board
when we need to fill roles
or off into other careers
in aerospace
engineering, science
and many other disciplines.
It's really great to foster
those incredible questions
about our universe.
Absolutely.
And I know that you need
to get back to your team
to go on that recovery process.
Moments almost here. Yeah.
So thank you so much
for joining us
and best of luck out
there today. Yeah. All right.
Back to you, Lauren.
Great. Thanks, Sophia.
Wow, I can't wait
for Dante to get his moment in.
The sun goes. Dante is amazing.
All right, so, Jim,
the whole Osiris
Rex spacecraft is not
coming back today, right?
It's just a part of it.
That's right.
This is the whole spacecraft,
40 feet long,
the size of a school bus.
But this special little thing
here, the sample return
capsule is bringing home
the goodies.
And that's
what we've just released.
And it will be
entering the atmosphere
and you'll be hearing
all about it.
And the samples were collected
at the asteroid back
in October of 2020
from this tagsam thing
that inserted them
in the capsule
and the capsule was released.
So that's what comes home.
The rest of this
goes on to Apophis.
That's right.
We just heard Lori
talk about that.
But let's move over
and take a look at this.
This replica s RC capsule.
Now, this was
an engineering model
that was used in tests
a couple of weeks ago,
for a few weeks ago
for a drop test.
Can you talk a little bit
about the engineering of this?
That's right.
This is a very
special spacecraft,
just like a small version
of what
we used to bring crews back
when they come back home
to Earth
from the space station.
It has a heat shield.
It's about 30 inches across.
So it's pretty big.
Weighs over £100, has a back
showing inside.
It has the goodies,
the sample return canister
and the sample cap,
the small sample canister.
So this is the vehicle
that brings those samples
protected
from all those changes
in environment
from the top of the atmosphere.
13 minutes of descent
to the touchdown point
that we're waiting for today.
This is a
very special spacecraft.
It absolutely is.
And it also was used
in a drop test, as I mentioned.
Let's take a look at
some of that footage now.
Right.
So just
a couple of weeks ago,
we dropped this replica,
this engineering test unit,
from 5000 feet
with a parachute deployment
and went through
all the operations,
the choreography.
We need
to actually make sure
we can do it today.
And that's
what's going to be coming up.
And it worked wonderfully.
We inflated
the big 24 foot parachute.
It's loaded down to the surface
at 11 miles an hour.
We went through
all the recovery operations,
the same thing,
the bagging and the containment
to come over
to the clean room here,
where we'll be doing that today
to make sure those samples
are from Bennu
so we can study
them here on Earth
and not contaminate
by our wonderful Earth.
That's right.
And, you know, it's the actual
CRC that they use
because it is covered in dirt,
as you could see here.
This is dirt scratch marks.
All the scratch marks.
Yeah, it's a rough ride, but
we need it to come home.
This is a real
sort of homecoming, right?
So there's a lot of science
in missions like this.
Not only is the
CRC a treasure
chest with material
from the ancient solar system,
but the mission itself
is a platform
for vital research
about a range of things
that you might
not have expected.
Sci fi.
Its mission
is to collect
visual infrared
and spectral data
on spaceflight
vehicles,
including the Osiris-rex
sample return
capsule on its return to Earth.
This gives engineers
and scientists unique insight
into our most
challenging questions
about hypersonic fluid dynamics
By providing data critical
to flight safety systems,
the scientifically
calibrated in-flight imagery
team uses ground
based sensors
and instruments
flying on various aircraft
to image
asteroid sample returns,
launch abort
systems,
parachute test rocket
launches and capsule returns,
including autonomous
one on both launch and reentry.
The data
we capture provides engineers
with information
on vehicle
performance, relative
to what computational tools
and wind tunnel tests.
Today,
it takes extensive
planning to get it right.
Upon its return to
the asteroid belt.
The Osiris-rex capsule
will be traveling
at 12 kilometers
per second,
or about 27,000 miles per hour.
That's nearly twice
as fast as objects
coming back to low-Earth orbit,
and it will be among
the fastest
human made objects ever
to find Earth's atmosphere
in partnership with the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency,
like AI
Technologies, International
and universities
in Australia and Germany,
sci fi is coordinating
three ground stations
and four aircraft
to collect data
on the sample return
capsule, factory
heat shield performance
and the plasma environment
surrounding the capsule
as it speaks to the surface,
all of which will help NASA's
understand its performance
and help future
planetary entry missions
to see.
Joining us now
is NASA's
Kate Calvin, chief
scientist and climate advisor.
Kate,
thank you so much
for being here.
It is wonderful to have you.
All right.
So as NASA's chief scientist,
you're looking at
the big picture.
You know how much
teamwork across
the agency has made to,
you know, a day like today,
a possibility,
a mission like this
takes a big team
both with NASA and without.
So we outside of NASA.
So with
the mission is managed
by Goddard Space
Flight Center in Maryland,
the sample is going to be going
to the Johnson
Space Center in Texas
after it leaves here.
Marshall Space Flight Center
in Alabama does
the overall program management
outside of now.
So we have collaboration
both in industry, academia
and international.
So Lockheed
Martin is doing the space
built spacecraft,
doing flight ops,
Kinetics is doing navigation.
We have a science team
led by the
University of Arizona,
and then we have the operations
held up
to one of the target
work critical
to station
people outside the landing.
And that's what
we got a confirmation
that helicopters, one
and two, have just taken off.
Very exciting. All right.
So, Kate, one of the things
as an Earth science and expert
on how our planet
works and climate,
you know,
can you tell us
how how this asteroid
mission, the samples
we return, might impact
how we understand
life on Earth,
how it evolved
and how climate issues
now might be involved. Yeah.
So this asteroid, asteroid
BENNU may record
some of the earliest history
of our solar system.
So scientists are looking at it
to help us understand
planet formation
and the origins
of water and carbon,
which led to life
here on Earth.
That's incredible.
Is incredible.
And, you know,
I know you've been to several
launches.
That's our typical bread
and butter here at NASA,
but this is more
of a homecoming.
How does that feel to you?
It's great.
The environment here is so nice
to being with the team
and thinking about, you know,
this spacecraft launched
seven years ago
and now there's all this
amazing science
just around the corner.
Can you believe it?
The team has really
been working hard.
And are you going
to stick around for the show?
Fantastic.
All right.
Well, Kate,
thank you so much
for for joining us.
Thanks, Kate, for all you do.
Thank you so much.
This seems like a perfect time
to dig into
some more information
about Bennu.
Bennu isn't part of the main
asteroid belt.
It's a neo,
a near-Earth asteroid
with an orbit
that occasionally brings
it close in close proximity
with us here on Earth.
Then it was about 500
meters in diameter,
which is taller than
the Empire State Building.
It rotates upside
down on its axis
compared to Earth
with a tilt of over
177 degrees.
Scientists chose to study Bennu
because recovery operations
helicopter to have departed
the station
keep outside the landing craft.
All right.
So you just heard that
they have departed wig.
Excellent progress. Fantastic.
All right, moving on.
It isn't as smooth a surface
as we initially thought.
It's actually
covered in pebbles
and marked by these large rocks
and boulders nearly everywhere.
One boulder in particular
that Osiris-rex had to navigate
around was nicknamed Mount Doom
and was the size of a two
story building.
Bennu holds the Guinness World
Guinness World
record of the smallest object
to be orbited a spacecraft.
Have fun.
Now let's get an
update from Sophia,
who is standing on
the edge of the Ellipse.
Take it away, Sophia.
Okay.
Two of the helicopters
have already just departed,
so the team is already
in the recovery process,
or at least the beginning
phases of it.
But right now,
we are waiting
to hear precisely
where the capsule
is going to land
before the rest of the teams
head on over to that location.
Now, we are about
under 10 minutes away
from the capsule
hitting the top
of our atmosphere,
and we are eagerly anticipating
this largest
sample
of ancient
solar system material
that we have received
since the last Apollo
mission in 1972.
So that is 51 years
since we've had such a pristine
and large
sample of ancient
solar system material.
It's a really big day
for science,
and we're just
in the beginning
phases of today.
But we are certainly excited
to hear
about what will happen
and see
those parachutes
finally descend
through our atmosphere.
So, yes,
we're certainly excited.
But this is just
one phase of this
amazing mission.
And to send it back
to you, Lauren,
see the
operational milestones
we're expecting
throughout the morning
as our C separation
already happened
and the capsule is now
heading for its rendezvous
with Earth's atmosphere.
Jim, it always appears
like these operations
are simply inevitable.
You know,
we grabbed the sample,
we flew back to Earth.
We're headed in for landing.
But it's never
that simple, is it?
No, not at all.
And so we have
a lot of critical events
that take
masterful engineering.
We have to hit
the top of the atmosphere,
transition through a high
g, high heat environment,
go from 27,000 miles
an hour down to eventually 11
for that safe landing.
All these things
involve changes
in environments,
forces, things
that could disrupt our sample
and change them,
which we want to document.
And so we really want to
understand this
and finally bring it to rest
so we can then back it
encapsulated
so we can eventually get
the sample
into our clean room here.
So we're ready to
transfer tomorrow to Houston,
to the Johnson Space Center.
So this is a big process
well-rehearsed
by a masterful team.
Absolutely.
And contains
work from thousands
of individuals
who are making this happen.
All right.
So we know that you're
submitting questions
from all over.
Let's take a few more
social questions. All right.
What do we have
at dead sarin At five,
three, four, two,
four, six, one. Who?
What are the preliminary steps
to take to test a sample?
The preliminary steps.
So first thing we do
is, of course, bag
it here and get it
into the clean room
and get that sample,
that that canister, the sample
canister inside the sample
return capsule,
get it under nitrogen purge,
meaning
we fill in nitrogen gas.
So no Earth's atmosphere
and microbes get involved.
That'll happen today.
Period of few hours.
And then tomorrow,
we transfer to the Johnson
Space Center
in Houston, Texas,
where all the fun happens
at the Astro Materials
Correctional Facility,
where we've done moon
rocks and samples
of interplanetary dust
and lots of things.
Those colleagues
in a special clean room,
perfectly designed for this
mission,
will unpack those
precious samples in the sample,
in the small sample
canister, the small device
that was used
on the end of the tagsam.
And they will go
through a process
to get it checked out,
to do early reconnaissance
and to protect it
very carefully.
That is incredible.
And they built that whole
clean room. No nothing.
No other asteroid
samples before it.
This is the first one.
First ever, First ever.
As the SC approaches
the edge of Earth's atmosphere.
We are just
moments away from the world's
largest ever asteroid
sample return.
Jim, what are you feeling
right now?
I am literally tingling
all over with exhilaration.
This is a small step
for a capsule
and a giant leap for science.
It really is.
And if that's one thing
we can impart, that is it.
This is a huge, huge milestone,
a great achievement.
So this is it.
We are just 15 minutes away
from the Osiris-rex
sample return,
a journey of seven years
and nearly 4 billion miles.
The work of thousands
culminates in this moment.
Let's turn it
over to our mission.
Commentator James Reilly,
to take us through
the final moments.
James, we're all yours,
gentlemen.
Buckle up and get ready
for the ride of entry,
descent and landing.
This is 13 minutes
of crazy descent.
Punishing, crazy
deceleration of our spacecraft
starting at 27,000
miles per hour
when it enters
into Earth's atmosphere
and eventually
slowing to a leisurely
11 miles per hour
as it descends and lands
on the Utah Test
and Training Range.
Recovery operations
helicopters one
and two have arrived
at the landing location.
So good news.
Our helicopters are ready to go
and begin
this recovery operations
just as soon as we have
confirmation of touchdown here.
And as the sun begins
to rise in the West Coast,
the SIAC is
going to be streaking
across the atmosphere
above San
Francisco, California,
about 80 miles in altitude.
It's going to be coming in
hot over 5000 degrees
Fahrenheit, almost
a couple seconds
after it hits that atmosphere,
that's about half as warm
as the surface of the sun.
To give you some context,
but don't worry,
our sample would be safe
and sound within.
We have a heat shield
which is made of a phenolic
impregnated carbon ablated.
It's a very fancy term
to describe
what's going on with this heat
shield.
It basically
Oblates away or burns away
any kind of heat flux
that develops
on that outer shell,
making sure
that our sample is safe
and cool within
similar technology
that we use with astronauts
coming back from the moon
or any kind of other landers
that we have
going into planets and moons.
So we're
just a couple of moments
away from this key moment.
It's going to be
a very exciting
next couple of 13 minutes here
and you'll hear
a couple of call outs
come in from just next door
in our mission
operations team
as they begin
to get us ready for this
key moment.
It's a journey of 3.8,
6 billion miles
getting reduced
to the scale of mere miles,
82 miles
above the surface of the earth
in San Francisco.
A couple of key events
are going to happen
as soon as we get
into the earth's atmosphere
very quickly
and we're going to deploy
our drogue parachute.
This is for stability,
stabilizes our descent,
and make sure
that we are continuing
to target that landing lives
that is here in the Utah Test
in training range.
It is a 36.5 by eight mile
landing ellipse that is here
marked out for that
recovery operation
you see on your screen
now, the mission ops team
eager
at the edge of their seats
for that
first call out of earth
atmospheric entry.
Very exciting moment coming up
in just a few seconds here.
We're about 20 seconds away.
You see the team
at Lockheed now
all standing
ready on the edge
of their seats.
This team, I'll remind
you, just a few hours ago,
gave that command
to release the ICRC
on this long journey.
It's been on its own
for 4 hours.
There's nothing we can do
at this point.
It's coming in rain or.
Milestone? Yes, sir.
She has entered
the Earth's atmosphere.
You tgr for of assets required.
And here we go.
Start your stopwatch right now
we are 13 minutes of entry,
descent and landing.
We have that expected milestone
of entering
into the earth's atmosphere.
We can see the team at launch
and we actually have
a visual now.
This is from
our infrared tracking camera
on the WB 57
or high altitude plane
at about 47,000 feet.
MSL means sea level
getting a great view of that
as sea heating up
as it enters
into Earth's atmosphere.
The punishing deceleration
that spacecraft
that SLC is experienced
right now
as it comes in
at about 27,650 miles an hour,
you can see it glowing brightly
in the sky.
In just a few
moments, we're
going to reach picketing
and peak deceleration.
That's at 32 G-forces
punishing G-force on a rest
or see a phenomenal view
of that streaking sources.
You coming in across the sky
at this point
we have entered in over
San Francisco, California,
and are very quickly
going to be
approaching the Utah test
and training range
just a little bit
further to the east.
Entry was at E while still
because our C
is experiencing maximum medium
to maximum deceleration.
So you just heard right
there, we're experiencing
that 5000 degree
Fahrenheit, maximum heating
burning, scalding
hot on that heat shield
that is protecting our sample
within and
maximum deceleration.
That is at 32 G force,
punishing deceleration
from Earth's atmosphere.
The drag forces that
are acting on that as our C,
once again,
as I mentioned,
that sample is safe
and sound
within that
as our C, that sample return
capsule as it comes in
burning through
Earth's atmosphere,
you can see our high altitude
plane searching for that star.
So you can see it
faintly on your screen there.
Our next milestone
will be expecting that
drogue parachute deployment.
That will be at about
102,300 feet altitude.
And as I mentioned before,
that will stabilize our descent
and slow us
from hypersonic
to subsonic speeds
as we continue
to target
the Utah test
and training range
expected EDL milestone
as our C commands
drogue parachute deploy.
So we heard that commands
you deploy the drop parachute
waiting to see
that visual confirmation
but that is at 102,300 feet.
And a side note
at this time, 8:44 a.m.
Mountain Time,
the Osiris Apex
spacecraft is at its closest
approach to earth
that will be on to its extended
mission, visiting
the asteroid
Apophis in the year 2029,
continuing this
incredible mission
at another world.
In just a few moments,
we should enter into
special use airspace
at approximately 8:46 a.m..
That's going to be a ten miles
off the deck here
at Utah Test
and Training Range.
You can still see that
s RC on your screen
very faintly in the distance,
still quite warm.
That fireball
that literally
was a ball of plasma
just a few moments ago
when it first entered
into the Earth's atmosphere.
That s our
is nearly three feet
wide, 1.6 feet tall.
Two small
objects are quite a challenge
to track this as it comes.
Syrians to Earth's atmosphere.
In just a few moments, we
should be entering into special
as airspace.
This area was
specifically chosen
for this mission
is a wide open, vast
desert space,
relatively flat,
perfect to land
the sample today.
We did, as I mentioned,
have a couple
days of rain here
leading up to this event.
So the ground is a little bit
soft.
And Sierra CRC
streaking in
is from our high altitude camp.
Our next milestone,
we should be expecting
main parachute deployment
at around 8:49 a.m.
Mountain Time.
That will be at of around
5000 feet elevation.
We continue to track
with our high altitude
camera here.
As I mentioned,
that sample
is thermally isolated within
that s our C,
a very complex labyrinth
network of piping and tubing
leading into that
sample canister within
that just a few years ago
was on the other side
of the solar system
from a sampling.
An asteroid bennu.
The team has incredible
precision
on this mission as well.
Just a few days ago,
on the 17th of September,
they did their final trajectory
correction maneuver team 12.
This corrected our loss
about three millimeters
per second.
We see video, Miles.
So we have confirmed
performance. Wow.
And after an exhilarating
streak across
Earth's atmosphere,
we have parachute deployment.
You can see
just a sigh of relief
from the team.
I can hear some applause here.
There is that orange
creamsicle colored parachute.
Just a delight,
a sweet delight
to see in our skies
here over the Utah
testing training range.
A phenomenal view.
Just wonderful
to see that deployment.
That is at around
5000 feet elevation
above the Utah test
and training range.
And now this is like
a marathon runner
savoring that last lap
here as we approach the finish
that landing in the
Utah test and training range.
Wonderful to see that
we continue to track
this is with our high altitude
camera still that WB 57
and we should have
a great view from here
on the ground
we've got a variety
of different tracking assets
and you saw Sofia out
at the edge of that ellipse
watching from Wigg Mountain.
The team there
could potentially have
a wonderful view
momentarily as well
will continue
to descend Our next altitude
descent will be
at about 4000 feet
just a few minutes away
from getting that sample
from the other side
of the solar system
and the surface
of asteroid Bennu
a sample site, Nightingale
to the rugged terrain
of the Utah Test
and Training Range.
It looks like
winds are relatively low.
Not a lot of rocking back
and forth as parachutes
seem to be perfectly smooth.
Coming down.
The parachute there
continuing to descend.
The slight
little bit of tilt back
and forth of our
are seen
as it comes to its arresting
velocity of 11 miles per hour
as it makes that final descent,
that parachute deployment
was given internally
by the spacecraft.
All of what you're seeing
now is autonomous on board.
That s RC.
And once
that successfully lands,
the teams will begin
the next crucial phase
of this mission,
the sample recovery operations.
They've been rehearsing
for this moment
for months, literally years,
really leading up
to this key moment
and are ready to begin
this operations
to get that RC
into our portable
clean room here
and extract
that sample canister within,
according to my watch
for about 5 minutes away
from landing with our s RC.
And as we heard a few moments
ago, helicopters
one and two are already staged
and ready
to begin
those recovery operations
just as soon as we have
confirmation of touchdown.
This is a variable clock,
so this could be
a little bit faster,
a little bit slower
as we get closer
in this wind speed.
Here is a variable
that is quite hard to predict,
especially once
you're high up
in the atmosphere.
We did release
a weather balloon earlier
on this afternoon, earlier
on this morning, rather,
to get a profile
of our atmosphere conditions.
The team
puts those into various models
as they prepare
for this key moment.
But once again,
they are a little bit hard
to predict,
a little bit variability.
So we may
kind of bounce around
a little bit on that.
Predicted surface
Rex sample return
capsule touchdown time,
but ground really closing in
on that.
That's a milestone.
Either one has a visual.
Oh yes I see some the chute
that is phenomenal.
Let's see that view here
from that first helicopter.
They've got
visual on the sample return
capsule under parachute,
that orange creamsicle
colored parachute
really bright.
Then the morning light
over the Utah test
and training range.
A great view of the SIRC
we can have now
from our helicopter
as it continues
to make its final descent
to the terrain below.
And once again,
just setting the context
for this.
When we first hit
the top of the atmosphere,
we were at 27,650
miles per hour.
We are now
leisurely decelerating
under our orange parachute
to 11 miles per hour.
Incredible amount
of deceleration
there as Earth's atmosphere
really helped us out
quite a bit,
getting that
initial deceleration,
our drogue parachute
initially stabilizing
our descent,
and then ultimately
that main parachute
bringing us home.
You can see right
in the center
of that crosshair,
that is the parachute
with the SRP dangling beneath
the team on the
the team member WB 57 to
touchdown I repeat
that first
he has touchdown
and touchdown of the service
Rex sample return capsule
a journey of a billion miles
to asteroid
BENNU and back
has come to an end
marking America's
first sample return
mission of its kind
and opening a time capsule
to our ancient solar system.
Unofficial touchdown time
8:52 a.m.
mountain yes.
And the team can now
breathe an immense
sigh of relief.
We now have the sample return
capsule, the CRC
containing pieces
of the asteroid Bennu
see the reaction there?
Just moments ago
as they got that sample
back on the ground.
This is
the team at
Lockheed celebrating that
momentous achievement
of getting that sample
from the other
side of the solar system,
an asteroid bennu
When we took that sample,
we were over
200 million miles away from us
here on Earth.
The long journey back,
1.2 billion miles from Asteroid
BENNU back to here with that
sample
has just come
to a dramatic close
and a little bit
ahead of schedule
to the saucy landing,
about 3 minutes ahead of
when we had
originally predicted
it was in a rush to get back
here.
Carrying
an amazing amount
of scientific information
within
the team is eager to crack
that a saucy open, get
the sample canister within
and begin the process
of understanding
the origins of our solar system
and potentially
the origins of life.
We're not in the
clear just yet.
A key
piece of the mission
is about to get underway.
This is the recovery
operation phase.
Once the team
has officially confirmed
the exact touchdown location,
they'll be flying on
in four separate helicopters
and operate much like a Formula
One pit crew,
if you will,
to recover the SNC,
take environmental samples
at the landing zone.
The LC,
everyone has a role to play.
It's going
be simultaneous action
as they get
that SLC recovered
and begin
to do an environmental
safety sweep,
collecting samples
along the way.
You see our mission ops team
just next door.
I once again remind you
that the
sample canister
itself is not actually going
to be opened here at Dugway.
The next phase of the operation
is simply
to get that RC
into the portable clean room
that has been specifically
set up
for this recovery operation.
The team will then
remove the heat shield
protecting the ICRC
and its precious cargo
within the entire descent
through the entry,
descent and landing.
Remove the back shell
and then extract
the sample canister
within the Tagsam
just a few years ago
collected pieces
from the asteroid Bennu.
Today,
the goal is to get the sample
chemistry operations.
Helicopters three and four
are leaving
for the landing and that's it.
See some big smiles
from the team there.
They are getting
those helicopters out
to the landing ellipse
now to begin
those recovery operations.
The first person to approach
the SIRC is Stu Wiley,
our on scene.
Commander, you
the helicopter,
the last of them
taking off
from the big mountain
just at the edge
of that landing ellipse.
These helicopters
will have a
trip out
to find that exact
touchdown location of the CRC
and begin
this recovery operation.
Stu, while they are on scene,
Commander will be
the first person
to approach that SIRC.
He'll do an environmental
safety sweep,
checking for
unexploded ordinances.
As he mentioned
in his interview earlier
with Sophia,
he understands this range.
She's worked here
for a number of years.
He will brief the team
on any possible dangers
that would be present
presented to them
as they begin
their recovery operations.
And then the team
member from Lockheed
Martin will begin to take gas
and thermal readings
once the area is safe of that
as or see
to determine whether or not
it is at safe
operational levels
for the rest of the team
to begin the
recovery operations.
As I mentioned, this is going
to be simultaneous action
the team has prepared.
They're all going to be
wearing these bright
white movie
shirts, simple recovery shirts.
You'll see them
walking out to that simple
in just a few moments.
And once those helicopters
land,
a great view once again
from our high altitude plane,
you can see the parachute there
next to our SIRC.
There is a possibility
that there could be unexploded
ordinances from that parachute.
There is a mortar inside
that is to fire,
to disconnect the parachute
from the main SIRC
to help it
come to a final rest.
It's a bit challenging
to see from this perspective,
but there could be
some potential role
marks or skid marks
as that as our seat
came to a rest on the
rugged desert surface below.
As I mentioned, we did have
a bit of precipitation here
the other day,
so that should make for a nice
soft surface for the desert.
So it probably had a nice clean
landing there.
The team will assess
as they get out there
and check
exactly how our conditions
are for the ICRC
in the surrounding area.
You heard Stu mentioning
the team
might need to wear some boots.
The operations can get
a little bit slippery
as they begin
to recover that sample.
And this is a pristine sample
from the ancient solar system.
It could hold the clues
to how everything around us
came to be
from the formation
of the planets
to the origins of life
here on Earth.
Needless to say,
this is precious cargo
and the recovery team
is fully aware
of the gravity of the situation
and the importance of what
they're about to do today with
these recovery operations.
You can
see it looks like our parachute
has come to a stable rest.
The winds were
pretty low today,
so it looks like
it is not blowing at all.
It is almost perfectly flat,
at least from this perspective,
on that desert terrain
and throughout
all these operations,
the crew members
safety is paramount.
So you'll see the team
probably huddle up
a couple of times
as we begin
these recovery operations
to make sure
that everything is safe
and continues to be nominal
as they make
their initial safety sweep.
All of this recovery
should be a very quick process.
Usually they've rehearsed
for this again for months.
They've been out here
all summer
really rehearsing
for this moment.
They had to drop tests
last month.
They've also had
numerous rehearsals
actually practicing,
containing the necessary,
getting it on a simple
carrying fixture.
Recovery
operations WB has located
the parachute on the ground.
And you just heard
that confirmation
from that high
altitude plane
locating that parachute
on the ground.
This location info
will be relayed to our team
members aboard
those helicopters as they begin
their approach out
to the landing zone.
We do have that confirmation
from the high altitude plane.
As you just heard,
we're still working
to get confirmation
from our NASA
helicopter
is on its way out to that
landing zone as we speak.
So we should
hopefully have the view up in
just a few moments.
You continue to see our team
just next door with the mission
operations team
all looking at that high
altitude view
right in the middle there.
Just pointing around
with the U.V.
white shirt is Rick
Weatherspoon
from Lockheed Martin.
He has been leading
a lot of these operations
for the past couple of months.
He's been preparing the team
for this exact moment
and really has been
a great leader,
helping us get ready
for these recovery operations.
Yeah.
So this
ellipse here, this landing
zone is a quite large
set up here.
And this was chosen
intentionally for this mission.
It's about 37
miles by nine miles total.
This landing ellipse
out in the Utah Test
and training range here
in Dugway, Utah.
This is an enormous facility,
as you heard earlier.
It's about the size
of Rhode Island.
All in all,
this whole facility,
it's relatively flat,
very smooth terrain.
This desert.
So it's perfect
for bringing something back
and having that
nice, safe landing
on the desert surface.
Just a few years
ago, the Osiris-rex
spacecraft back in 2020
made its tag attempt,
the touch and go
attempt to actually collect
the sample
that is now landed
in this desert.
When it did that,
it was only at the surface
for just a couple seconds,
descending at a speed
about 11 centimeters
per second,
just a little bit
faster than a baby
that is crawling.
It's a very slow pace.
But they're able
to successfully get that sample
and bring it
from the edge
of our solar system
back to us here
at the Utah
Test and Training Range.
You can see our
full screen view
here of that high
altitude view,
looking at the parachute
at rest
on the surface of the desert.
This is at the Utah Test
and Training Range.
It's a wide open expanse here.
And the team
has this position when flown,
they'll be relaying
that to our helicopter teams
to begin
this recovery operations.
And we'll
you'll see
in a couple of seconds
here, the recovery
team, recovery crews,
our responsible
for securing the sample
return capsule,
the landing site around it,
and helicoptering the SLC
to a portable clean room
that's located
just next door
here on the range.
And just a little bit later
on, it's going to be attached
to a 100 foot long line
beneath one of the helicopters
and they will actually
be flown to the clean room.
This was determined
to be
the best possible
way to transport
that as safely and efficiently
to get it on a nitrogen purge
and maintain the pristine
nature of the sample within.
As I mentioned, this
is an
enormous ellipse,
37 by nine miles.
It's a large expanse
to cover by car.
It's a very bumpy ride
out there
as you kind of start
to make your approach
across this rugged terrain
with the helicopters,
it will be approximately
a 20 minute
flight back
within us or see
they take it
at a nice slow pace,
effectively parading
the SLC around,
just giving it its last
big moment as it is
served its purpose sufficiently
at this point
of getting that sample
canister safely here to Earth.
Once we actually land
and begin
this recovery operations,
you'll see
a lot of team members out
beginning to take samples,
both air
and also soil samples
from around the area.
These are places of interest
for the sample curation team
that will actually open up
the sample canister
in the coming days.
Down at the Johnson
Space Center in Houston, Texas.
They have a phenomenal sample
curation facility there.
And these samples from asteroid
BENNU will join
a historic collection
of other asteroid materials,
including samples
from the Apollo
mission,
samples from both the Stardust
and Genesis missions,
as well as Antarctic meteorites
that were collected
by our scientists.
In the coming
days, we'll actually know
exactly how much sample
we got back from Bennu.
The original
mission requirement
was 60 grams
of pristine sample
from the asteroid surface
based on some
very clever engineering.
The team believes
that they have
potentially 250 grams
or six times
that mission
requirement inside.
And so we just heard that
unofficial touchdown
time was at 8:52 a.m.
Mountain Time
here at the Utah Test
and Training Range
in Dugway, Utah.
If you're just joining us,
you see that view right now
from one of our high
altitude planes
observing our touchdown
location.
On your screen, just above that
crosshair is the orange
creamsicle colored parachute
that brought us the last part
of our journey down to
the surface of the earth.
You heard from Jim
earlier that,
I mean, parachutes
about 24 feet across,
fairly large parachute
that helped us decelerate
on our last leg of the journey.
And so we just heard
a confirmation, actually,
that the main parachute
deployed much higher
than it
was originally anticipated.
It was originally supposed
to deploy
at about 5000 feet elevation,
but it actually deployed
at around 20,000 feet,
so much higher up.
So that would explain
our kind of earlier touchdown
than expected here.
Still has touchdown
on the Utah test
and training range.
Team members continue
to fly out to this location
aboard helicopters.
As I mentioned,
there are four recovery
helicopters in total.
The mission operations team
is continuing
to monitor the situation.
They're the ones who are
relaying us
that info
about the high parachute
deployment, the 20,000 foot
parachute deployment.
They're going to be
assessing the situation
from there, interviewing
any possible info
over to our recovery teams
as they begin
to make their trip
out to our SIRC.
One of the first goals once
the team gets out
there is to safe
and stow the parachute
and begin
to mark places of interest.
As I mentioned,
for the curation team
to begin sampling.
This is all very well
coordinated machine,
very well
oiled machine
that operates in tandem.
They've rehearsed
extensively for this moment.
So we just heard from the team
in that mission operations room
that they have visual
of the
that orange parachute
that you saw
on your screen moments ago.
But we do not yet
have visual confirmation
of the source itself.
The team is continuing
to survey the region,
looking for that
sample return capsule
recovery operations
heroes one and two
are in the area
of the landing site
and they
in the search operation.
So you just heard that
call out from Tim Presser,
who you see on your screen
there from the mishap
mission operations room.
He just announced that
he'll lose one or two
are now at that landing site.
They're pointing out
something on the screen.
I see some smiles.
It seems like
we might have potentially
some more information on
that as our
see in the coming moments.
He was one
and two will be serving
this region,
looking for both that search
and also
eyeing up the region,
looking at that parachute
that was deployed
to the operations
of all of the ground supported
vehicles, have left work
and are in pursuit of earnings.
Okay.
So more team
members are going to be
heading out to that
landing zone as well
in support
of those four helicopters.
That will be the main
group recovering that sample.
The main helicopter will be
actually attaching
that sample return capsule
once the team has it located
and ready to prepare
for recovery operations,
they will load that
on Long Island,
can see some once again,
some team members
pointing out items
on the screen here.
We'll hopefully
get confirmation
in the coming minutes of that
as our location.
Tim Fries are pointing
at the screen now, wondering
if he has any more information
for us on where
that sample return
capsule location would be.
We do have visual confirmation
of that parachute.
As I mentioned,
where there's been reading
out to the team.
And now we have a view
from our helicopter
of the landing location.
You can see the sample return
capsule dead center
on your screen,
that kind of dark gray
black object right there.
And then just to
the right of it
a little bit
below is our parachute
that appears to be resting
on the surface.
We're getting a zoom in now
from our NASA's helicopter.
And you can see now the SSR.
See at last
we have a visual of it
on the surface of the
Utah Test and training range.
I'm sure that is
a pleasant sight
for the team to see.
Recovery operations,
You have to have visual on the
I repeat,
as far as he has been located
and we have a visual on that,
as I see,
it appears that the parachute
has also disconnected.
It's a little bit off
from that as RC
disconnecting from the back
channel,
the appears
to be resting on its nose.
That heat shield
that protected it
the whole way down
through that entry and landing.
Lockheed
is celebrating that moment.
I'm sure they're breathing
another sigh of relief here.
It's been a wild morning
for everyone involved.
They've been up
since the crack of dawn
just a little bit further north
from us in Waterton, Colorado.
They gave the go command
to actually release
that SRT
that you see on your screen
right there
from the Osiris-rex spacecraft
about 4 hours ago.
It then
ventured entirely on its own
and now sits on its own
For us here in the Utah
Test and Training Range.
So now that we have visual,
the teams should be able
to begin
the recovery operations
in just a few moments.
As I mentioned, that
first person on scene
will be the on scene Stu Wylie.
He'll be doing
an environmental sweep.
We're getting a nice close up.
You can see
the parachute disconnected
and see some of
the wiring of it there.
Just a little bit off
the edge of our SSD.
The SLC looks quite
charred up from that entry
and that was expected
as we heated up to temperatures
over 5000 degrees
Fahrenheit upon entry
into Earth's atmosphere.
You see a great visual,
some of that rugged
terrain out there,
just a sweeping expanse,
very panoramic terrain
at the Utah Test
and Training range.
It's a great location
us to land this sample.
The team looking
a lot more relieved
now that we
actually have visual
and we should be able to begin
this recovery
operations shortly.
Inside that sample
return capsule
are pieces of
the asteroid BENNU
will be getting access
to those samples
in just a few days
and actually
seeing exactly what we got
from the asteroid regolith.
This mission continues to amaze
me and everyone involved here.
The engineering is ingenious
for this
mission,
getting us with
a robotic explorer
to the edge
of the solar system,
collecting that sample safely,
stowing it
and then actually transporting
it back here to Earth
for us to open up and analyze
the surface
today was
probably a little bit soft.
So it looks like it's resting
a little bit far off
the actual desert.
It doesn't appear
to have dug in too much
with that nose cone
from the heat shield.
You were here with
us as we witness
this historic moment.
It's the first time
the United States has delivered
samples from an asteroid
to Earth.
And these samples
will be analyzed for decades
to come in
laboratories around the world.
And there is landing
of our first helicopter
at the site
appears to have a nice
soft landing.
We're just probably a couple
hundred feet over
the operations.
Eagle One has landed
at the recovery site.
So our first helicopter,
you just heard confirmation
and you can see visual
confirmation of that landing.
We're maybe about 100,
200 feet away,
landing away from that sample.
So a little bit of a hike
for our team members
to get out to that sample
return capsule and begin our
environmental safety sweep,
as I mentioned, are on scene.
Commander Stu
Wiley will be the first person
of the team
to actually approach the sample
check.
The area for any unexploded
ordnance is
USO's
that could possibly
be out there on the range
and then also make sure
that that RC is safe
for our operations team
to approach and begin recovery.
You can see where
that parachute disconnected
from the top of that.
Our that is the black shield
that you see right there
at the very top
with that little bit of white
wiring
still coming out of the top.
Our SC perfectly landed there
on the Utah Test
and training range.
So what you're about to see
happening
next is
the process
of recovery operations.
This is a key
moment of today's events
to actually get that s
RC from out in the desert
into our portable
clean room here at Dugway.
It is crucial that we maintain
the pristine
of this sample
that we got back
from asteroid BENNU.
It could hold the clues
to how everything around us
came to be from the formation
of the planets
to origins of life here.
So the team understands
just how crucial
the contents of that s RC is,
and they're going to work
as efficiently
and as safely
as possible to get
that SLC contained
wrapped up
in thermal blanketing,
placed in a
simple carrying fixture
and then attached
with long line
to our first helicopter. There.
It'll then be transported
the long journey back here,
a much more relaxing flight
I'm sure for
SLC two
our portable clean room
at Dugway,
at which point
the team members
will extract the back shell
and remove the heat
shield from the start
it served its purpose.
We're mainly not concerned
with getting the contents
within that sample canister
containing pieces
of the asteroid regolith
out of that. That's RC.
We won't
actually, as I
mentioned, be opening
that sample canister just yet.
Here at Dugway,
the team is simply focused
on getting the necessary
or the sample canister, rather,
on a nitrogen purge,
and this is to maintain
that pristine
nature and prevent
any kind of contaminants
from the atmosphere,
from getting in to our sample
within recovery operations
in those and 4 hours
and cleared to land
at the recovery site.
And the rest of the team
is closely behind,
ready to land
at the recovery site
to begin operations.
This will be
simultaneous action
that you'll see here
once we have the clearance
from Stu Wiley
to begin
our recovery operations.
At least
from this perspective, I'm
not noticing really
any drag marks
or any kind of roll marks,
but the team wants
the approach will mark
any possible areas of interest
where the
SLC possibly came in contact
with the rough desert terrain.
All of these regions will be
by a recovery team
and will be passed off
to the sample curation
team at the Johnson
Space Center
as they begin to unload
and actually open up the
sample canister there,
exploring the
contents within and making sure
that no possible contaminants
from the surrounding landing
location got into our sample.
We're getting a wider view now.
We should have the helicopters
that have landed nearby
coming into view potentially
the team
really taking extra precaution
as they approach the SIRC.
As I mentioned, team
members safety is paramount
during these operations.
There are possible
potential areas of concern
as the team begin
these operations,
including the temperature
of that US RCC,
It looks quite charred there.
It could still be
a little bit warm.
As I mentioned,
it heated up to over
5000 degrees Fahrenheit.
So as the cool desert air
begins to cool down that as RC,
we want to make sure
that it is cool enough
for our team to actually begin
those recovery operations.
We'll also be checking the
gas levels
of that
RC to make sure
that it is not outgassing
from the batteries
within heating up
during that reentry.
We'll also be making sure
that there is no light
voltage present.
And we see a view now
from our high altitude plane
that has visual
of those helicopters
landed nearby.
Just at the northern
part of your screen.
You can see
one of them on screen Now,
the top of your screen
there it is centered up
there is our helicopter.
It appears
that we have our on scene
commander potentially
walking over.
This is once again
our high altitude
WB 57 shot of our helicopters
landed at the LC
our landing zone
can see some movement
on the screen
it appears some team members
might be approaching our RC
at this point to begin
those recovery operations.
The initial safety sweep sweep
we'll just
will just
be observing
from this high altitude
for the next coming minutes
as the team
actually will be
setting up a camera
on the ground for us to observe
the recovery
operations close up.
And a note
from one of the team members
about the CRC itself.
So they have approximately
40 hours.
That is the amount of time
it would take for any air
to get into the sample.
As I mentioned
before, that sample
return capsule
is a complex network
of piping and tubing
inside of it,
sort of like a labyrinth
like design,
and that is intentional
to it, incredibly difficult
for any possible contaminants
from the atmosphere
to get into
our sample canister.
It's also sort of
like a nesting doll,
if you will,
where it has multiple
layers of protection
to keep that sample safe within
all of that protective
layering,
once we get that sample into
the clean room will be shed
and we'll be able
to actually access
that sample canister within.
The main goal,
as I said, for today,
is to get that sample canister
on a nitrogen purge
that is to maintain
its pristine nature.
And we have visual once again
from one of our
helicopters here
orbiting around
the landing location.
You can see our SIRC
at the bottom
left of your screen
and its parachute
that helped us
get the last leg
of the journey down into point
a little bit higher
than we expected.
20,000 feet elevation,
original expectation
was at about 5000 feet.
And this brought us down
the last leg of the journey.
After a punishing initial entry
into Earth's atmosphere
over San Francisco,
about 82 miles, an altitude
to now
laying resting
on the rugged Utah test
and training
range, desert floor
Recovery Operations
Recovery team
is in the vicinity
beginning the
initial assessments.
So you just heard confirmation
from Tim Fraser
that the team is beginning
to actually approach the CRC
for that
initial Environmental
and safety sweep.
You'll soon see our on scene,
Commander Otter,
Oscar Stu Wiley,
approaching
that sample return capsule.
As I mentioned before,
he'll be checking
for any possible
unexploded ordnance.
As you can see, our mission
operations team,
they have been overseeing
all of this morning's events
and they're going to
there we go on screen.
You can see front and center
there, Stu Wiley,
our onsite scene commander.
And right behind him
is Victoria Team.
They're both wearing personal
protective equipment,
gas masks.
That's for their own safety
as they approach
as there could be
potential outgassing
from that sample return
capsule's batteries
heating up during reentry
can see him
scanning the region.
He's checking for
any possible unexploded
ordnance as UXO
recovery operations.
Oscar's performing the
Unexploded Ordnance survey,
and you just heard
that he is
in fact doing that survey
right now, you can see him
walking around the SIRC.
This is the first person
to come in contact
with this SIRC
since it was on the
other side of the solar system.
We had this on a long journey.
It was science, right?
Spacecraft
finally delivering the sample.
He is
motioning over
to Victoria team,
who is surely going to approach
and begin taking some gas
and thermal readings.
You can see her walking over
and must
have given the clear
for her to proceed
a little bit closer.
Stu continues
to pace around
the surrounding area.
All over here,
the team will collect samples.
He'll begin to place flags
you can see in his backpack
he's got a couple of flags
waving in the breeze.
Those will be placed
at areas of interest
for our team members to sample
once they arrive and begin
this recovery operations.
Victoria is now
appearing to take out her
thermal and gas
reading devices.
She's taking an initial thermal
reading of that.
As far as we speak,
looking for it
to be
at an operational temperature
of around 100 degrees.
Variations.
Lockheed
Martin Safety is performing
hazardous
environment assessments.
And you just heard
that confirmation.
So she is
performing that hazardous
environment assessment
checking the
thermal temperature
of that SIRC,
as well as taking
any kind of gas
readings to make sure
that we are at safe
operational levels.
She is also leaning over.
This is Victoria,
a team from Lockheed Martin.
Stu continues to sweep
the area around her
for the safe
operation of our recovery
crew members.
There are several
nozzles of valves
around the SIRC,
and so
once Victoria has
the clear approach,
she'll actually open up
some of those valves
and insert
a gas reading device within
to actually take
some temperatures.
And you can see off
to the left of your screen,
Stu Wiley is actually saving
and stowing away that parachute
that helped us to
the last leg of the journey.
It's great news
that that
disconnected from the CRC
and allowed our see to rest
as it is now
here on the surface
of the Utah test
and training range,
it appears
with minimal dragging
recovery operations,
Oscar is saving
and storing the main parachute.
So Stu is going to get
that parachute stowed
placed away
as Victoria is front center
on your screen,
beginning to take
some of those gas
readings to make sure
that we are not outgassing
any kind of noxious chemicals
that could be present
from that battery
heating up within the CRC.
And Stu is walking
back to the team
with that parachute.
So the SNC battery is comprised
of lithium disulfide
and as such,
the possibility
of toxic vapors exist
if the battery packaging
has been damaged during
entry or landing,
discharging could cause a
potential presence
of hydrogen sulfide
from those batteries
heating up or carbon monoxide.
And so that is why Victoria
initially had her gas mask on.
It appears
she is now
actually taking it off.
So it appears that
the gas readings
indicate
nominal conditions,
recovery operations, Lockheed
Martin safety has confirmed
no hazardous gas
and you just heard
that confirmation.
So the safety assessment
is successful.
Victoria has confirmed that
with her gas readings
and thermal
measurements of the CRC to to
then go back over
Stu and Victoria
for a team huddle
to prepare the rest of the team
to begin
the recovery operations
and actually get this SNC
into our clean room
here at Dugway
and continue the operations.
You can see the Lockheed
Martin team on the bottom
left of your screen
just overjoyed
with this moment.
This is years of careful
planning and preparation
leading to this final phase
of getting that sample
back here to our clean rooms.
I'm sure they've been holding
their breath all morning,
so they're getting closer
to finally
being able
to take another breath
and relax
as we actually will begin
our recovery operations.
A key part of today's events.
And you might see
a victory approach
over and over once again
to that as our key
to continue
to take gas readings.
At this point,
she appears to be
up the back shell of that CRC,
placing a Teflon cover over.
This is where the parachute
actually deployed
at the top of the CRC capsule.
The sample return
capsule, another.
She'll also be checking
for any possible light voltage
and we'll wrap
kept on tape around
the two cut cable ends
protruding from the back of the
yes or see where
that parachute deployed.
You can see her
with that covering
as we speak,
placing it on the back. She'll
and she
has successfully placed that
shielding on the back
of the Teflon cover,
still walking around behind,
checking
the rest of the seam,
walking back with the parachute
that he now
has safely stowed away.
And you'll see Victoria
opening up a couple of gas
valves on the CRC,
taking those gas readings.
She'll continue to do this
throughout the whole process.
She's also placing
covers on those gas vents to
to prevent any kind of
contamination
from atmospheric particles,
particles, particulates
entering into that AC
She's photographing
the scene as well, too.
This is to
keep careful
note of exactly the procedures
that she's
going through for her team.
So the recovery operations
will be getting
underway shortly
now that the team has conducted
their initial environmental
and safety sweep,
everything appears
to be nominal,
which is fantastic.
We do, in fact
have the necessary
on the ground.
The rest of the team
will be approaching shortly.
But for now, back to you.
Lauren Engine.
Wow.
Thank you, James.
Oh, can you believe it?
And she touched down
for science.
What a great day
for the folks at home.
This is a huge deal.
A huge deal.
And they did it
for the first time in history.
We brought goodies back home
from this kind of object
in the history of humanity.
So this is big.
This is so huge.
And we're all breathing
a big sigh of relief.
Obviously,
we're not completely
out of the woods here
and we'll be monitoring
what's going on and keeping
you abreast of everything
that's happening.
But for now, wow,
we made it all a great job
by that Lockheed team.
Same thing, that crowd tastic.
What a spacecraft.
We have to name our specialty.
Yes, absolutely.
In that capsule,
everything perfect.
So while the capsule
was making its way
to the ground
mission invasions,
all those covers are in place.
All right, All right.
So we're making good.
We're making progress.
All right.
So while the capsule
was making its way
to the ground,
mission teams,
the Colorado control room
at the end,
the mission ops area here
in Utah were, of course,
riveted by the live images.
These teams have watched
and nurtured this mission
for more than seven
years of spaceflight
and even longer in terms
of construction and design.
Wow.
Amazing.
11 years since
it was selected to fly.
What a job, folks.
Just fantastic.
A lot's happened
in seven years.
All right.
So let's get an update
from where
the action
started this morning.
Sophia, tell us everything.
Okay.
Let me firstly,
I want to say
we are so grateful
that the capsule
is on the ground
and in good hands now.
Now, from here,
from Wig Mountain,
I'm overlooking the vast
landing zone,
which again
is larger
than the state of Rhode Island.
So during that time,
listening to James's
commentary of the capsule
coming through the atmosphere,
we were all standing
on the edge here
looking and scanning
through the sky.
But just to give you
some context,
again of where I am, I'm
about 4000 feet up
overlooking a vast,
ancient seabed.
So the mountains
that are peppering along
the edges over here,
they are very muted colors.
It's a beautiful pastel
out there.
And as we're looking over
through the sky,
it's hard to see
because there's alkaline
dust from this ancient seabed.
And considering
that the capsule has landed
on the edge of the landing,
even though I'm as close
as I could possibly be,
I didn't see
anything over here.
I will say
I'm a little disappointed,
but grateful
that that capsule is
in the most capable hands
it can be,
and that is the most
important thing out here.
So while I didn't see
with my eyes
myself,
we saw it on the screen and.
It's still a great day.
So back to you, Lauren.
Wow. Thank you, Sophia.
And thankfully,
we got that great image
from the NASA helicopter.
Just well done to that team.
Thank You for that.
So while we're keeping an eye
on ongoing operations
to prep for the
FARC transport,
we have a special message
from someone
who keeps a close eye
on the entire manifest
of the space agency's
travels around
the solar system.
Hey, everybody.
Congratulations
to the Osiris-rex team.
You did it,
You designed it, you built it,
and you carried out
the first mission
to collect
a sample from an asteroid.
And after a two year journey,
it has touched down at the Utah
desert.
It brought something
extraordinary.
The largest
asteroid sample
ever received on Earth.
It's going to help scientists
investigate planet formation.
It's going to improve
our understanding
of the asteroids
that could possibly
impact the earth,
and it'll deepen
our understanding
of the origin
of our solar system
in its formation.
This mission proves
NASA does big things,
things that inspire
us, things
that unite US
recovery operations.
We're convinced that the 13
reached reach
and the mission continues
with incredible science
and analysis going to come.
But I want to thank you all
for everybody
that made this
Osiris-rex mission possible.
It wasn't Mission impossible.
It was the impossible
became possible.
Thank you all.
And just as a reminder,
we are keeping those
operational milestones going.
So you will continue to hear
that throughout the broadcast.
Thankfully,
the SNC was breached.
Fantastic, fantastic news.
All right.
As anyone who pays
just even a little attention
to modern spaceflight knows
there has been more activity
above the planet
in recent years
than ever before
in human history.
There are probes
like Osiris-rex
moving around the Solar System
Observatory,
looking out into deep space
and satellites
closely examining the health
and future of our own planet.
There are also human explorers
and we are so fortunate
to have two of them
with us here today.
Joining us now
are NASA's astronauts, Butch
Wilmore and Sonny Williams,
scheduled to launch on Boeing's
crewed flight test
aboard Starliner
to the International Space
Station.
Butch and Sunny,
thank for joining us
on the honor.
Super exciting day three.
Absolutely historic.
How are you feeling?
Pretty amazing.
It's like, wow,
this is what, you know, dreams
and imagination is fueled with.
This is just amazing.
So you can go from the movies,
but this is reality.
And we're doing things
that people couldn't even
could happen.
So amazing.
And also,
I mean, we've both landed
under capsule,
under parachutes.
There's not much better feeling
when that parachute opens.
And it was
it was maybe not
pretty close to exciting
And the tents in
that parachute open.
Oh, it was thrilling.
Absolutely thrilling.
Yeah, That's fantastic.
Well, that is fantastic.
And one of the things
that I think
will be really
interesting is this.
Of course,
this site is being
considered
as one of the candidates
for the a Boeing STARLINER
Crew flight. Right.
And that's actually
why we're here.
It just worked out
in our timing for our training
and our
as we're working on Starliner
that we could
and actually view
one of our prime landing sites,
which is here at Dugway.
And so that's actually
what brought us to the area
so we could be here and share
in the experience
with you today.
And then we see
this is gone so well,
we are ready
to recovery operations.
That's the place
that our heritage
was performing.
We're seeing beautiful places,
a beautiful day this morning.
You know, wind
and things capsule just came
right down under the chute
and hopefully
will have a nice software.
I just like this.
Absolutely.
And we just got a call out
that the recovery team
is performing their
safety operations. Everything
sounds good.
You guys will be coming back
and maybe someday with samples
yourself brought back
by humans. Indeed.
What do you think about that?
Again,
we're in that era of going
beyond low earth orbit
now with humans,
you know,
headed back to the moon
and potentially
one day to Mars Odyssey
Artemis program.
And it is a thrilling time,
as you mentioned earlier,
so much taking place
within the solar system,
the near solar system now.
And it's it's it's fascinating.
Great time to be in
human space.
I think I'd be a
little bit nervous
to go to an asteroid.
So
that's why I'm glad
the spacecraft did it.
And it will set the pace and
and show us how to do it.
But I think
maybe you practice
a little bit more before we go
because it's
a dangerous environment, Right.
Learning about it so much.
But thank you so much
for joining us today.
Briefly, you'll stick around
for more of the show on our.
Thank you, John.
Appreciate. Thanks, guys.
Good luck with your flight
if you've just joined us.
This is special live
coverage of NASA's Osiris-rex
asteroid sample return mission.
You might be thinking
this doesn't look like
a typical massive facility.
And it's not.
In fact, it's
because of the
extraordinary capabilities
that we find here,
that we find ourselves
the Utah desert
in the first place.
We're coming to you
live from Army's
Dugway Proving Ground.
We've got a video
postcard to share
that will give you
a better sense
of the glorious desert
environment all around us.
Take a look.
Wow, Absolutely gorgeous.
The spaces here are vast,
rugged, beautiful.
I mean, you get to see
a little bit from the
from the NASA helicopter.
But that was a
close up and personal.
And look at this.
We're in this place.
It almost looks like Mars,
but on Earth as we're
recovering a capsule
with the the
the pieces of our universe
that will tell us
about the early time
of our solar system
that we can't
get anywhere else.
And there's the crew out there
approaching that
beautiful capsule
that did the joyful ride
from that
top of the atmosphere, down
13 minutes of roller
coaster riding,
and they're getting it safe
and ready
to start bagging her
to come over
to the clean room here as well.
And explain why do we you know,
what do we do,
a land landing,
you know,
as opposed to an ocean landing.
So many of our crews land
in the ocean.
Right. You know, from Apollo.
But for this one,
we need to bring it back
to a place
where we can contain
the contamination
by landing in the desert here,
we can keep the earth, ocean,
all those
absolutely wonderful
waters out.
This is the best place
to bring home
this kind of capsule.
And look at her.
She landed perfectly.
Looks like a top sitting there.
Absolutely gorgeous.
Well, this isn't the first time
that NASA has Dugway,
and it certainly won't
be the last. Take a look.
All right.
When bringing a
sample of the cosmos
back to Earth,
it's important
to find a good landing zone
that won't compromise
the sample.
That's why
NASA's partnered
with the Army's
Dugway Proving Ground.
It's vast open Space Mexico
to test
scientists working on the first
mission to land the assignment
for the Genesis mission
landed here at Dugway,
delivering our
first ever samples
of solar wind.
In 2006, NASA landed at
Dugway again,
this time with a mission
called Stardust,
which gathered
samples of interstellar dust.
Both of these missions
helped fuel
our understanding
of the universe
and wouldn't have been possible
without a safe landing zone.
Just like Osiris-rex.
After today, NASA and Dugway
are looking towards the future
to the Mars
sample return mission
that will once again
be bringing a unique sample
of our universe right here
to Dugway Proving Ground.
The US and the U.S.
Army and Air Force
have been excellent
hosts to us for months
as we've been preparing
for today's landing.
That's one of many reasons I'm
so pleased to welcome
Colonel James Harwell,
Army commander here at Dugway
Proving Ground
Recovery Operations.
Nominal, essentially
recovery operations have begun.
Oak
All right.
Nominal RC Recovery
operations have begun.
Okay, good.
All right.
Okay.
So today
could not have gone any better.
How did it
I mean, in large part
due to our amazing partners
here with the military.
How did it look from your end?
Oh, it looked amazing.
So the
when you talk
about partnerships
isn't just a Dugway
Proving Ground effort, though.
You're sitting here
on Dugway Proving Ground.
The capsule actually
landed on the Air Force's
Utah Test and training range.
And so it's going
to be brought here
to Dugway before.
It goes to the clean room.
So this is a larger effort
than just the Army's
Dugway Proving
Ground in Nassau.
And it looks like
it might have landed right.
So I got a note
just before this
from the commander
of the Utah testing
training range
that it did land on Utah.
And so
there was a little
bit of rivalry there.
We were hoping
it looks like it was on you
right on the boundary, though.
So cool.
So we have a big collaboration
at NASA
with members of the
from the Army and Navy,
from the military services
that have given us
the opportunity
to go to these great places
and space ourselves as people.
And can you tell us
a little bit about the training
and other fantastic
things you do?
Prepares these people
to be crew
for flight into space? Yeah.
So if you look at it,
the the Army is
the greatest leadership
lab in the world.
The types of problems
that we have to solve
on a day to day basis.
And we have some of the
best workforce
that is available.
So here at Dugway
Proving Ground,
we do
chemical and biological
defense testing.
We're part of the Army's
test and evaluation command.
And so any time
a piece of equipment
is going to go to
into a service members
hands, it's tested
by one of our
amazing members
of our workforce.
But we also do training here.
And so
it gives a chance for folks
to come
and do things
in a realistic environment
that's really allows them
to hone those problem
solving skills.
So that's why
the crews are so good
who come from the
from the Army in the Navy.
Yeah, we'd like to point out
it was an Army astronaut
this week who went over the
set, the record. Oh, well,
there you go.
Well, we
couldn't let you go
without wishing you
a very happy birthday today.
Happy birthday. Thank you.
And you
got a piece
of the solar system.
How about that?
I don't think
I could have gotten
a better present from NASA.
This is the rarest stuff
we've ever had on Earth.
It is.
And I mean,
when we're talking
about the origins of life,
and that's one of the cool
I have the coolest job
in the world.
A couple of months ago,
I was here
and I did the Utah test
and training range.
We got to go out to
an archeological site
and see 12,000 year
old footprints.
And now we're going to get
to see the material
from the origins
of the solar system.
I think we've set the bar
pretty high.
And so my
my kids think I'm cool today.
I don't know what
we're going to do to top this.
Well,
we think you're pretty cool.
Yes. Yes, sir.
Thank you so much
for joining us.
We really loved having you.
Thank you.
We have a saying at
NASA that
the only way to reach the stars
is if we all go together.
The Osiris Rex team
represents pros
at the top of their game,
but explorers are just now
finding inspiration
in today's events.
Here at the Dugway Proving
Ground, students
attending public school
can literally say
that a sample
of an asteroid, it
landed in their backyard.
We visited the school
to hear their thoughts
about the mission
and how their teachers hope
it might influence their dreams
of future exploration.
My name is Deborah Rockmore
and I am the librarian here
at elementary
through high school.
I love that
Dugway is part of this.
We have a very strong
feeling about Dugway.
It's a wonderful base
to have it be a prominent area
where this is coming down
is really amazing to us.
Well, I I'm just glad
I had that.
This little town
is getting noticed
is a bit west
that has kind of
like all the left
because they
get fly to the sky with fire
because it goes really fast.
Honestly,
I find it really cool cause
you don't really expect
this stuff to happen,
you know, in your backyard.
But I really wish
I could see it,
but I don't know.
I'm going to try my hardest.
I became
interested in the mission
because I have that NASA out
and I get daily
updates on photos.
And one day I saw a photo
that had
Dugway, Utah titled on it,
and I was like, I live there.
You hear about exciting things
all over the world
and it's cool to hear about,
but you kind of
never think that you'll be,
I guess, directly
or indirectly involved with it.
But to know
that it's just happening
here, what can I say
is is pretty cool.
Let's go.
Cyrus Rex, Go. Cyrus Rex.
Well, let's go to Cyrus.
Let's go.
Cyrus. Rex outside.
Is that
all right?
Let's go.
Cyrus Rex.
I love that energy.
I do, too.
All right, Jim, you know,
you're a planetary geologist.
How did you get into this?
I mean, these kids
are just at the beginning
of thinking about what
their career might be.
I mean, how did you do this?
I think
all kids are intrinsically
curious at birth.
My mother said I was interested
in space at birth.
Don't know how she knew.
But in any event,
I think we all are
and we
follow different pathways.
If you see things as beautiful
as we have here in Dugway,
here in Utah,
you'll be inspired by the rocks
and the things in space
like these special samples
we've brought back,
which are unique
being from Bennu
but not unique
in the kinds of materials
we have here on Earth
thanks to other
asteroid returns.
These are the biggest
we've ever done,
and so we're excited.
But I think
curiosity is in all of us.
And so
that's really
what it's all about.
And these kids are ready
to pick up on this energy now.
We need that future generation.
All right.
Let's get an update from James.
James, go ahead.
Yeah, Lauren.
So the mission operations
team has confirmed
that we are able to begin
those recovery operations
you've been seeing
on your screen
in the bottom corner
for the past couple of minutes,
team members
beginning to head out
and put flags
of areas of interest
where we'll want to sample
for our sample curation team.
And also just a note
on our parachute deployment.
The parachute was set to deploy
based on capsule deceleration,
and we actually reached
that threshold
earlier than predicted
and the parachute
deployed appropriately.
So everything was right there
working perfectly fine.
We got that as far.
See, as you can see
successfully on the ground,
it is perfectly resting
on the desert terrain.
And you see three
of our team members
around that capsule
beginning to place flags
to begin to collect samples.
The team members here
you see on screen are Sanford
Dante Lauretta,
the principal investigator
at the right of your screen
there, and Francis McCubbin.
These are key curation
team members
who will help us actually
get a lot of these samples
of the region,
their environmental samples
collected and ready
to be passed
along to our team
at the Johnson Space Center
for Curation efforts there.
This is again, a
very key part of the mission.
We want to make sure
that there is no contamination
of that sample return capsule
from any possible
atmospheric or
environmental conditions
at that landing zone,
that landing site.
And so we're going
to continue these operations
and actually begin
to scoop up
some of the samples.
And this will work
like a well-oiled machine
you'll see in a few moments
Dante,
who was just on your screen
a few moments
ago, is wearing an arm band
much like a
football quarterback,
if you will.
He'll actually be kind of
reading off the play
calls as they go out
and go step by step
to actually scoop
into the terrain
about an inch down
into the surface of the desert,
scooping out a little bit
of the rock and dust
that's there,
placing it into a bag,
photographing the whole process
along the way,
making Note of exactly
where they collected
that sample from.
All this information will
then be passed along
to our sample curation
team at the Johnson
Space Center
as they begin
to actually open up
that sample canister
and see exactly
what we got within.
This has been a long journey.
It's been a incredible morning
to witness
this live
just really just
such a stunning feat
of engineering
to get that capsule
back here to Earth
with samples
of the asteroid bennu.
This is why we do
science, right,
to get these kinds of samples.
Every piece of dust
and grain inside
that sample return capsule
is a Ph.D.
thesis waiting to be written.
It's a new discovery,
waiting for us
about the origins
of the solar system
and our place in it.
And the vast
majority of that sample, more
than 70% of that sample
is actually going
to be stowed away
for future analysis.
We did the same exact thing
with the Apollo missions
when we brought back
rocks from the moon,
a large quantity of those rocks
and dust from the moon
our astronauts brought back
were stowed away
for future generations,
with the expectation
that our technology
would continue to improve
and improve and improve.
And then
we'd be able to ask questions
that we couldn't
even begin to fathom.
And now
the same thing will be doing
with the osiris-rex samples
that we brought back
from the asteroid Bennu.
A lot of these
will be opened up
50 years from now
with scientists
who are yet to be born
asking questions.
We can't begin to imagine.
So our team is just
huddling off
screen now
and our recovery operations
will begin.
You'll see a number of team
members come out here
to be carrying with them
a carrying fixture.
It's a large metal fixture
that has been
perfectly designed
to have our CRC resting within.
They'll be bringing out
a lot of thermal blanketing
that will be used
to protect our SIRC
during its flight
back to the clean room here
again,
we want to make sure that the
CRC is safe
from any kind of
possible contamination
from the atmosphere.
So they're going to do
an excellent job
of actually wrapping
this SIRC up
and getting it
prepared to transport
to a portable clean room.
That actual operation
of getting that SASE
bagged and stowed and ready
to go on our long line
operations for the helicopter
will be a rather
quick operation.
As you see some team members
from Lockheed Martin,
their role is largely
finished for today.
They were
operating a lot of the flight
dynamics of that SIRC
getting it to the ground
and now they can really just
take a step back and relax,
catch their breath
after all the chaos
of the morning.
Very exciting moment
for all of them, I'm sure,
to actually see their creation
sitting on the surface
of the Utah test
and training range.
Just massive,
massive sigh of relief.
So as I mentioned, that
actual of the NRC
will be a
relatively quick process.
But a number
of our team members,
including Dante Lauretta,
our principal investigator,
might remain out on the site
where you see that CRC
on your screen.
Now, they're going to continue
to collect samples.
You can see a number of flags
placed around.
There's some pink
flags placed there.
There are four placed
in front of the NRC
where the team believes
the SLC is potentially
along the surface
as it came to a rest
on the Utah test
and training range
desert surface
on the backside of the disaster
for additional pink flags.
And those are our regions
control sampling.
We'll actually go and sample
all of these regions
and compare back to areas
we believe
the CRC did not contact.
You can see additionally,
it's a little bit hard
make out with the bright
color of the desert,
but there are a couple
white flags present at the CRC
and these are areas
of operation for the team
to actually be able
to walk up to the CRC
with the carrying
fixture, place
it next to the CRC
and actually begin to bag
and stow our sample return
capsule for transport
to the Dugway Clean Room.
So it's been already
just an incredible morning.
We're now about an hour past
landing of the Osiris-rex
sample return capsule.
Just a few years ago,
our spacecraft, our intrepid
robotic Explorer,
was 200
million miles away from us
on the other side
of the solar system.
It successfully captured
a sample of the asteroid Bennu
stowed it away
and transported on the long
1.2 billion mile journey to us
here on Earth.
We experienced an incredible
entry, descent and landing
as this team
that you see on screen here,
the Lockheed Martin team
a couple of hours
before our broadcast started,
gave the green light to go
command actually released
the sample return capsule
containing pieces
of the asteroid bennu.
It then floated on its own
through the vacuum of space
for about 4 hours
before coming in contact
with the atmosphere
over the San Francisco,
California Bay
area,
traveling at just over 27,000
miles per hour
and hitting up to over
5000 degrees Fahrenheit
as it encountered
the incredible drag forces
our Earth's
atmosphere presents.
We then slow down
under our drogue
parachute initially,
which kept us stable
during our descent down
to the Utah test
and training range.
And then ultimately
at about 20,000
feet off the deck,
we gave the command
to deploy our main parachute,
that orange
creamsicle colored parachute
that is now actually already
been stowed away
by our team members
here at the Utah Test
and Training Range.
It's been
a really wild journey.
Very excited to have
our SLC on the ground
and you see a view of
our mission operations
team observing
our recovery team
that is already out
on the landing zone,
taking beginning
to actually prepare
the thermal
blanketing
the protective layers
for our SRB.
And you can see
we're
documenting this whole process
along the way.
And so these operations
will continue
for the next couple of minutes
as long as it takes
to safely store that as RC
and prepared
for long line operations
to get it
to the clean room here,
continue to take samples
and I will continue
to monitor the situation
as we proceed here.
But for now, back to you
learned Jim.
Thanks, James.
And just a reminder
to those watching,
we are in an extremely
remote location.
And so if our signal
is breaking up, it's
because we're just
we're we're out
in the middle of nowhere.
So we're doing a great job,
all things considered.
One of the thing that I wanted
to address really quickly
is that parachute
ended up
deploying really quickly,
did it not?
Yeah, it did.
It deployed high
and this is a smart spacecraft,
that sample return capsule
that detected
the deceleration rate
and it decided
that it was important
to get that parachute
out to slow down.
So we make this
beautiful, safe landing.
And that's the way this
this magical
autonomous spaceflight
works these days.
We adjust
the dynamics
of the environment.
Again,
hats off to the engineers
that built those systems in
so we could be home
safe doing what
you can see on your screen now
with a beautiful landing.
All right, Jim,
let's actually take
some social media
questions now.
Let's get our one.
All right.
At CC, SB wants to know,
will the sample be quarantined?
Quarantined like moon rocks.
Ah well, in this case,
based on a classification
of what we call
the planetary protection,
these samples
will not be quarantined
in that way.
The first moon rocks came back.
They were quarantined
for a week
out on the carrier
and all that kind of good stuff
came back to Houston again
very carefully.
In this case,
we understand
the asteroid, the environment.
We measured it with osiris-rex
other asteroid samples
from our colleagues in Japan.
And so we don't
have to quarantine
in the same way
we do have to protect them
from contamination.
And there's all kinds
of systems in place
by our team
to allow us
to understand
the level of contamination.
So what we study in science
is the pristine asteroid.
That was a great question.
Excellent question.
Mr.
Martians, this hour is bagged
and secured
in the hand and texture.
All right.
You just heard that
the SIRC has been banned
and we are
well on our way
to getting that
to our clean room here
at Dugway.
Wow.
Fantastic news
missions like Osiris-rex
transform scientific pursuits
into engineering challenges.
Smart, curious people
with pursue
pursue answers with creative
verve and perseverance.
This year,
Hollywood also had a story
about a crowd of people
situated around the touchdown
point of an asteroid.
And while we couldn't
help ourselves,
we asked the cast of Asteroid
City to say a few words.
All right,
Well, it looks like
we are having
some technical difficulties,
but that's okay.
We'll definitely get you
that video.
It's a really fun one.
It is.
Scarlett Johansson,
I mean, A-lister.
Can you imagine?
All right.
So let's get an update
from our field
correspondent, Sophia.
Sophia,
do you have an update for us?
Okay, Lauren.
Turns out the landing site
really is
just over my shoulder.
It is
just so hard to see
through the alkaline
particulate out here
on the landing zone.
But you know what?
This is all in great hands.
And we are just very thrilled
that the capsule is doing
well today.
So I'm able to see
one of the helicopters
just circling over there.
But for those of you
who have just tuned
in, I am on Wigg Mountain,
which is overlooking
the Ellipse,
which is the vast landing zone.
And earlier today,
the helicopters,
which were shuttling our
teams of experts and our
departed from here
via helicopter
once they found out
exactly where
the capsule landed.
And now they're off
on their recovery process
and are doing what they do,
which has been a carefully
rehearsed process.
So, Lauren, I'm
going to send it back to you.
Great.
Thank so much, Sophia.
All right.
Well, let's get back to that
awesome video of Asteroid City.
You don't want to miss this.
Take a look.
I am Jason Schwartzman.
I'm Jake Ryan.
And I'm Scarlett Johansson.
Where are you?
Asteroid City farmer.
Six miles, 70.
Hey, everyone.
I'm Jeffrey Wright, Junior,
Stargazers and space cadet.
Each year
we celebrate Asteroid Day.
Hey, everyone.
I'm Maya Hawke,
and I'm Rupert friend.
And we star in West
Anderson's new movie,
Asteroid City.
In the movie, families
from across the country gather
in a fictional American
desert town
for a junior
stargazer convention.
I heard there's
a real life reason
people will be gathering
in the Utah desert
this September.
The world will
never be the same.
What is happening there
on September 24th?
September 24th is going
to be a historic day.
This is NASA's first
asteroid sample return mission.
And the biggest sample return
beyond the moon.
Shortly before 9 a.m.
local time,
Cyrus Rex
spacecraft
carrying precious samples
of asteroid BENNU
will release capsule
into the atmosphere
to lower the samples
down to the Utah desert,
where scientists
are anxiously awaiting
the return of these materials.
Wow.
That sounds like
the plot of a science
fiction film.
It's incredible
that a spacecraft
can go to an asteroid,
grab some pieces of it,
and then bring them to Earth.
So what will NASA's
look for within the asteroid?
These pristine
asteroid materials
will be studied by scientists
from around the world.
We're going to be looking
at the minerals
and dissecting the rocks,
looking at a mineral grain
by mineral grain
to learn
more about how the solar system
formed and evolved.
We're also going to be
looking for water
to try to understand
how our Earth's oceans
came to be.
And then finally,
we're going to be looking
at organic compounds,
including some of the basic
chemical building
blocks of life,
to try to understand
whether asteroids like Bennu
could have delivered
the building blocks
to earth,
leading to the origin of life
on Earth
and potentially elsewhere.
With the data that we obtained
from these materials,
we're going to be rewriting
the textbooks
on solar system formation.
Fascinating stuff.
But don't
fragments of asteroids
land on Earth all the time?
Why can't we
those pieces
instead of a mission
to bring this sample
to the earth?
Yeah, that's a great question.
I mean, in fact,
the Earth is constantly
being bombarded
by fragments of asteroids
in the form of meteorites.
But one of the big problems
with studying meteorites is you
don't always know
where they came from.
And it also can be
contaminated.
Fair enough.
It makes sense that we to study
something more pristine.
So how will nausea
protect the sample once
it's on earth?
And can I have some?
I wish we could have
some of these samples.
I wish I could bring one home
with me
to put on my dresser at home.
But the reality is,
these samples
will only be
for educational purposes
in scientific research.
The samples will be transported
to the NASA's
Johnson Space Center,
where they've built
a special curation facility
just for keeping these
samples safe and pristine.
This is all so incredible.
I don't know.
I'm so glad that NASA's
teams of people
that are searching
for the answers
to some of the
biggest questions like
where did life and water
come from?
How did where our solar system
come from?
I can't wait to see
what we learn from
the asteroid sample
Osiris-rex is bringing to earth
like thank you
for all that you do.
This is also incredible.
Thank you
so much for all you do.
Well, you just said that name.
You just said Cyrus Rex.
That was the thing that was.
That was kick ass.
How did you do that?
I was like, What is this for?
I was like a Cyrus rex.
Cyrus Rex?
Yeah, it was Highness
the Cyrus Rex.
Wow.
Talk about that Mega
wanted
star and garlic wine guy.
It takes a huge, talented team
with profoundly diverse skills
to design and execute
something as audacious
as osiris-rex.
It takes years of planning
and perseverance
to see it through from that
initial notepad doodle
to a moment
when the world tunes
in to celebrate a huge success.
It also takes leadership,
and I'm pleased to say
that we are now joined
by the director of NASA's
Goddard Space
Flight Center, Dr.
McKenzie Lastra. Welcome.
Thank you so much.
I'm delighted to be here
and very happy
about the results
coming out today.
It is a great day indeed.
And congratulations.
This is a huge day for Goddard
and must go without saying
that you are very proud.
Absolutely.
This team is amazing.
They've been through
so much for so long.
Goddard Space Flight Center.
The special thing
about NASA's Science
center, Goddard,
is that we have
scientists and engineers
working side by side.
And so that doodle on a napkin
can turn into something
like Osiris-rex.
And scientists like Dr.
Garvin here, who's joined us,
really help us create a vision
with other scientists
of how you're going to do
the engineering
that gets you
to this
this moment that we have today.
And McKenzie,
we have leadership across
all domains on this mission,
from system engineering
to science
to accounting to everything.
How did your team in Maryland
pull this thing off?
Yeah,
you know,
we have people who have managed
multiple parts of missions
over the decades.
Systems engineering is
critical
and it's one of the things
that Goddard
really brings to the table.
And systems engineering
means that we take into account
everything about
the mission from
the science ideas
to the launch
to orchestrating
the landing here on Earth,
but making sure that all of
the instruments are
working together,
making sure that the spacecraft
successfully interfaces
with the instruments
and can carry out its job
once it at bennu.
All of that
requires really understanding
the entire system.
So when we say
systems engineering,
we're really talking
about that overarching holistic
perspective that our scientists
and our engineers
bring to the table.
But it's true
that we have
some of the greatest scientists
and engineers
working on space missions,
and they
they pull it off every time.
Well, you know,
really quickly here,
Goddard will be
one of the centers
that will receive a sample.
But who else will?
A sample of the asteroid
samples are really traveling
all around the world.
What I think
is very exciting about this
mission
is that we're saving about 75%
and we're not
sending that out yet.
We're keeping that in storage
for future generations
to be able to use
more advanced methods
and instruments
to be able to analyze.
So about 25% of that material
is going to be headed
to scientific organizations
all around the globe.
Fantastic. Unbelievable.
Well,
thank you so much
for joining us this morning.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Graduation? Yes.
There's a big team
of scientists, engineers
and so many others here in Utah
working to make OpEx a success.
It should go without saying.
Everyone here
is mission critical.
From bus drivers
to planetary geologists,
helicopter pilots
to logistics experts
with all of the
natural excitement
about the mission itself.
Let's stop for a few minutes
and highlight
those in Osiris-rex
who made it live and breathe.
Take a look.
Boy, it's really hard not to
get slow
when you see all those faces.
These are a lot of the people
that we've been seeing
over the last few days,
and they're getting
their time in the sun.
All right,
let's throw it over to James
for an operational update.
Take it away, James.
Yeah. Thanks, Lance.
So while we've been kind
of waiting
for the past
couple of minutes here,
the team has actually
successfully bagged
and prepared
the sample return capsule
for the long operations.
You can see on your screen
right now
the CRC is bagged
within thermal blanketing
and that metal thing you see on
the bottom
is the carrying fixture.
This will
then be actually loaded up
into cargo netting and prepared
for long line operations.
One of our helicopters
will take flight
carrying the CRC dangling
beneath it.
The S or C is going
to be stabilized.
That cargo netting,
there is a gimbal
that will keep it stable
as we begin the flight
to the clean room
with our precious cargo
on board.
You'll notice
a couple of
tape markers on that
as sar C as well.
The thermal blanketing there.
Those are pieces of capped
on tape
marking exactly
where events are on
that as our C for team
members here at the cleanroom
who will once again do gas
and thermal readings
once it arrives
at the clean room.
Just once again
making sure team
members are safe and secure
as we begin
to continue
those recovery operations,
getting the s
r c into the clean room.
And this is
one of the last phases
of the process
of getting our SASE back
and then opening it up,
finally seeing that
sample canister within
and preparing that
for shipment tomorrow
on a C-17 cargo
plane to the Johnson Space
Center's Sample
Duration Facility.
And this was a
very quick process.
I mean,
if you're keeping time at home,
this was only a
maybe about 20 minutes
that they
took to get out there.
And once they arrived and wrap
everything up
really quickly,
once they were given
the official confirmation
to approach,
get everything stored
prepared for those
long line operations,
this really has become
second nature
for these team members.
They really are able to bag
and prepare
C and you'll see
still quite a few flags
around that area there.
Once this
is flown away from the region,
the landing
zone team
members from the curation team
will remain on site
and continue to take samples
of that surrounding area.
And they also have set up
off screen here,
you can see it,
but there is a air
reading that they're
going to be taking a shuttle,
air samples of the area,
atmospheric samples.
All of this will be cross
correlated with samples
that we actually get back
from the asteroid BENNU
to make sure that
nothing from Earth
here at the LC
or beyond got into that sample
return capsule.
And you can see
some of those team members
who are going to be
taking those samples once again
approaching the location.
Dante Lauretta
is front and center with them.
He has that arm bent on
and on his left arm.
You can see it there
as he's carrying his bucket
that has all of his tools
that he needs to begin
collecting these samples.
It's a very tight procedure
that they have to go through
to make sure that they are
properly taking these samples.
You can see
they are photographing
the area first,
documenting exactly
where they are,
collecting the sample from the
then have a small metal scooper
that they'll use
to actually dig in
to the desert surface.
It's a bit of a soft surface
out there today.
As I mentioned,
we did have some rain
that softened it up.
So should be easy to
dig in there,
grab a bit of sample,
and then they will bag
that sample, seal it up
and then send that off
to the sample curation
team at the Johnson
Space Center,
admiring the region as well.
It's a beautiful, clear
morning there today.
We've been rehearsing in
a variety
of different conditions,
including in the
middle of the summer
where temperatures are over
100 degrees Fahrenheit,
much cooler conditions.
You can see your team members
wearing their UV shirts.
A much chillier
morning for them
as they are doing
these recovery operations.
And this process
does take some time
as they go through
and collect these samples.
They want to make sure
that they're
accurately documenting exactly
what's present
at this landing zone.
For the team members
who are at the sample curation
facility of the Johnson
Space Center,
getting a great view
from NASA helicopter.
They've been
doing a phenomenal job
all morning
tracking the action for us.
And we don't give them
enough credit.
We've been training, obviously,
that all of the science
recovery operations,
the recovery team is moving.
Yes.
Are seem
to have helped to run
and preserve
the long, long operations.
And there we have it.
We are going to be moving
towards those Long
Island operations.
The rest of the team
members approaching
that, as our see
that has been
successfully bagged
and prepared to be loaded
into the helicopters long on.
This will be the last
time the Siac takes flight.
We had a wild flight
this morning.
You can see two team members
lifting that SIRC up.
It's about £120 total.
Once you have the SLC
and the carrying fixture
there together,
they're going to be walking
this over,
preparing it for cargo netting
and getting that attached
to the long line
for helicopter operations.
And as I mentioned,
this is the last time
the SLC is going
to be taking flight.
They've had a harrowing journey
this morning
coming through the
Earth's atmosphere at over
27,000 miles per hour.
It is now being carried
carefully by a couple of team
members here.
So quite a deceleration
from that initial entry
and really just
a wonderful
final journey
for our sample
before it is opened up
at the clean room
and prepared to be shipped
to this
to the curation
facility at Johnson.
And as I mentioned,
this view is coming from
one of our NASA
helicopters,
just like the science
and engineering
engineering teams
have been preparing for
this key
moment are NASA's
helicopter pilots
also been preparing
to cover today's events?
They're typically down
at Kennedy
Space Center in Florida,
capturing launch coverage
from Cape Canaveral.
But this past couple of months
they've been out here
with us at the Utah Test
and Training Range,
preparing to document
today's events.
Getting incredible footage
for us all along the way.
You'll see this team members
have a bit of a hike
to carry it to where it is
safe operationally.
You can see we have the cargo
netting already laid out there.
Our representative
from Dugway
and Jasmin Nakayama is prepared
with that cargo netting.
She's going to
help the team here
get that
SIRC, that
has already been successfully
bagged up with thermal wrapping
into that cargo netting.
And you can see
the helicopter already there
staged and ready to lift off.
The helicopter pilot
has actually removed
one of the doors
on that helicopter
so he can lean out
and look down
as he carefully lifts
the CRC off the terrain.
We want to make sure
that this is a careful,
slow process
if we safely transport
this SIRC to the Dugway
Clean Room,
you can see
Jasmine is picking up
pieces of the cargo netting
and beginning to wrap
the SIRC
that has been placed already
on the carrying fixture
with the thermal blanketing
team members, observing
their handiwork.
Getting that
carefully wrapped up
will then actually unwrap
all of that
thermal blanketing
once we actually get it
into the clean room
here, recovery operations
as our season approaches on it
and all the gear
has been stowed
in the helicopter.
Great news.
Everything sounds
for helicopter operations.
And in just a few moments,
we should have lift
off of the NSC
aboard
the helicopter
with that long line attached
team members clearing, the area
to make sure that we can safely
take off with our helicopter.
These helicopter pilots have
also been training in tandem
with all the team members
the past couple of months
leading up to this key moment.
We've practiced
these Long Island operations.
We practiced the flight
back to the Dugway Clean Room,
but obviously nothing
compares to the real deal.
I'm sure they are
feeling the excitement,
they are feeling the nerves
as they know
how precious their cargo is.
This morning
that they're transporting
to the Dugway Clean Room.
See, Jasmine is
donning a helmet
and the rotors are kicking on
for a helicopter,
kicking off some dust as.
They get up to speed.
There
it is, a
dusty morning out on the desert
and this will be once again
a very slow,
deliberate operation.
We want to make sure
that sample return
capsule is safe
as we are lifting it off.
The piece that Jasmine is
holding in her hand right now
is that gimbal stabilizer
for the cargo netting
that will ensure
that the source
is not wildly spinning.
As we get to altitude
with our helicopter,
these helicopters
can get upwards
of over 100 miles
an hour speed.
But we're going to go nowhere
close to that today.
We're going to be taking
this at a slow pace,
making sure that as fast
you can get back
safely and securely
to our Dugway Clean Room,
you can see one of our NASA
photographers, Keagan, Barbara,
some great pictures.
I'm sure this will be
phenomenal views
of the operations
that are going on
just across the way from us
at the Utah Test
and Training Range.
As soon as these rotors
get up to speed,
our helicopter will get off
the ground.
The terrain is a little bit
soft today.
Team members were out here
yesterday testing out
the grounds
and at practice
actually landing
with some of the helicopters.
Those skids on the helicopters
got about an inch
into the wet terrain.
It's presumably dried
a lot more today.
It's the sunny,
clear skies
have probably
helped us out a bit.
So it should be
an easy lift off for this
helicopter to get into the air
and help transport that
SIRC to the clean room.
Offscreen team members are
presumably continuing
to collect samples
of the surrounding area,
both environmental
soil samples. Samples
will be continuing
to do those operations
even as we bring this
SIRC to our clean room.
Just a great view here
from our NASA helicopter.
And in just a few moments,
we should have a stunning view
of a rescue
lifting off the ground.
No part of this SIRC
comes in contact
with the helicopter.
As I said, it's
been safely stored
in that thermal blanketing.
There's multiple
layers of that, blanketing
as well as a tarp
being placed over it.
Now, it is also
in that cargo netting. Thanks.
Our Dugway representative,
Jazmin Nakayama,
she's then attached
this whole contraption
to a long line
that will dangle
about a hundred feet below
the helicopter.
And I can see a
lot of dust kicking up.
Now, the engine's
really revving up
on that helicopter,
and it is off
the desert terrain in the air
with the SIRC in tow
Recovery operations.
Helicopter one
is currently the part,
the recovery site
with the surgery
and we have clearance
to depart the recovery.
This is a key moment
of those recovery operations.
We're already getting that SIRC
out of the landing zone
and on its way
to the Dugway Clean Room
in just a few moments
that SIRC,
with the long line
attached, will be
lifting off its landing zone.
Jasmine assisting
with that
final part of the lift
and it is now airborne,
as I mentioned, a much more
relaxing flight for SLC on
its last leg of its journey.
We are officially
departing that landing zone.
Recovery operations
will continue out
at the Dugway Cleanroom.
I see team members
waving goodbye
and look at that view.
This is a stunning view
of our helicopter.
This is a long journey ahead.
As I mentioned, probably
about 20 minutes
of total flight.
We may lose signal
as we head out there a bit,
but for now,
we have a stunning view
of our helicopter
carrying the see below.
And you can see that
stabilizer is helping
to keep the necessary
nice and stable below.
We'll continue
to track this transport
to the clean room.
But for now, back to you,
Larne and Jim.
Wow.
Check out that epic shot.
What a ride. Wow.
All right. Thanks, James.
The science community
has serious questions
about asteroids like Bennu.
For a long time.
What are they made of?
Do they hold any clues
about the origins of life
on Earth or elsewhere?
And what can
they tell us about our past
and potentially our future?
It's all about
chemistry, Lauren.
It absolutely is.
Well, fortunately,
Jim, we are joined
by somebody who specializes
in the kind of
chemistry that you'd be hard
pressed to find outside
of NASA.
Jason Dworkin
is the Osiris-rex
project scientist.
Welcome. Welcome, Jason.
Thanks, and congratulations.
What a historic day.
Oh, so really has to be.
Yes, relieved,
invigorated, excited
as so much
work ahead of us, right?
Indeed. Fun work. Oh, no.
Epic work. Epic work.
You must be so excited to dig
into the sample yourself.
But what makes this the sample?
You know, we've.
We've to say
this is such an
important sample
from an asteroid.
Why is it
scientifically significant?
So Bennu is an ancient piece
of the
of the early solar system,
a leftover component.
It's a fragment of what happens
when you when you make planets.
And this
this fragment of rock is
it contains
that the ingredients
that that happen
when you make planets,
that happens
when you make life.
So by studying a sample from
the leftovers of space,
we can study a sample
from the leftovers
of the formation of the
of the Earth.
Look at
the chemistry in detail
as you can only do
on the ground using instruments
that are sometimes
bigger than the launch pad,
let alone the space level
on the rock in the spacecraft.
Some interrogate
the compounds, the the
the minerals in fine detail
to, understand
how they interact
with each other,
and how they could have led
to the history
of the solar system.
And that's forensic science
that is at its best.
But I have a question, Jason,
because you're an
expert in this so.
We're going to save
some of the sample
so that future generations,
future techniques,
future people
not even born,
can can learn from it
in the future
as we try to look
at our place in space.
Absolutely.
That's one of the parts
I find the most exciting.
Gratifying
is that the work we do here
will be available
for scientists
perhaps watching now, perhaps
not yet born.
They can make choices
and come up with their own
hypotheses, their own ideas
around new techniques
to look at,
look at the sample in new
and exciting ways.
Just as we have for
the Apollo samples.
One of my laboratory,
I studied Apollo 1617 samples
that were collected
before she was born
using techniques
that were not invented
in the 1970s
to then answer questions
that were thought of
but couldn't be,
couldn't be answered.
And so since you
mentioned forensics,
we also have equipped
future generations with
the information
to follow the chain of evidence
from these construction
spacecraft,
all of which the collection now
and then the distribution.
Awesome. Wow. That is so cool.
Thank you.
Thank you so much
for joining us. Pleasure.
Thank you. Thanks, Jason.
Good luck.
Careful handling of this
asteroid sample is all about
getting the most out
of the huge effort
to visit visit
the object in the first place.
Mission planners
considered many destinations
but settled on bennu.
Let's learn more about why
Osiris-rex was designed
to retrieve
a sample from asteroid
Bennu and return it to Earth.
So of the more than 1 million
known asteroids
in our solar system, why Bennu?
First, as a near-Earth
asteroid, Bennu
is easy to reach.
It takes about 14 months
to orbit
the and comes close to earth
once every six years
to get there.
Osiris-rex was launched
in 2016 on an Atlas
five rocket
with a single booster
and, a center upper stage.
It also got a big assist
from Earth's
gravity in 2017,
allowing it to match Bennu's
orbital tilt.
The second reason
that Bennu was chosen
its size and spin rate.
Bennu measures
about half a kilometer
in diameter
and rotates on its axis
once every 4.3 hours,
which is actually slow
compared to many smaller
asteroids.
This allowed osiris-rex to map
bennu surface up close
and to match its velocity.
Briefly touched down
and collect a sample
before Osiris-rex arrived.
Scientists thought that Bennu's
slow rotation
meant a low
risk of flinging away
most of its sample material.
But shortly after arrival,
Bennu was caught on
camera, ejecting
hundreds of pebbles.
It turns out that Bennu
regularly shreds
small particles,
but it still had
plenty of loose
material left on its surface
for sample collection.
The third reason for choosing
Bennu was its composition.
We don't know
what ingredients were present
during the formation
of life on Earth,
but primitive asteroids
like Bennu
serve as time capsules,
preserving material from the
dawn of the solar system.
Spectrometers on Osiris-rex
confirmed that Bennu is rich
in carbon based molecules,
including organics
that are the stuff of life.
When the Bennu
sample is analyzed,
it will help scientists
to better understand
the formation
of the solar system
and our own origins.
So why particular asteroid
proximity to earth?
The right size and spin
and a carbon rich composition?
That is why we chose Bennu.
As you can see
in the bottom of your screen
that SIRC is continuing
its transit to the clean room.
Awesome.
All right.
So turning our attention
back to the rocks in the back,
I have to ask him,
how did they get
how did they get it in here?
What is this?
So this is the Tagsam
sampler head.
It's about a foot long.
It looks like an old
Chevy carburetor,
but inside
is something much
more precious.
Inside,
maybe 250 or more grams
of that primitive material
from the asteroid.
And it has all the gear on it,
including samples
on the bottom, little pads
to grab sample,
as well as the stuff inside
that contains
the bigger pebbles
and all the dust.
It even has witnessed plates.
So we used to do that,
that contamination control
that Jason was talking about.
This is the box.
This is the
this is the big deal
right here.
And, you know, the
the material went into
this box.
We've actually got some of
what's called simulant here.
And this is obviously
not the actual sample
from Bennu,
but it is a good approximation.
Is that right, Jim?
That's right.
And so what we discovered
on this amazing mission
was the material properties
in the microgravity
of asteroid Bennu
didn't behave like
we totally expected.
They behaved like
almost cohesion with fluid.
And so while I pour this here
and they fall pretty naturally
and this is about
the amount of stuff
we expect to find inside
this sampler had
they flowed
more like water on Earth
than we expected
there on the asteroid.
This is new physics.
We didn't know
that was going to happen.
And these rubble pile
asteroids are teaching
us something
at every step in fact,
some of these bits
which are simulants here
maybe have more
like little balls of Styrofoam
than the kind of rocks
we have here.
So we're
going to learn new stuff
by just doing
basic characterization
of the goodies
inside this sampler head.
And one thing
I think is so cool
is that, you know, on earth
we've poured directly
into these other beakers here.
But as you said,
it acted almost more
like fluid. Exactly.
We actually when we
when we took
the sample
had on the tagsam,
we pushed it into the asteroid,
gave it a poke,
let loose the gas and,
let the stuff
like we actually penetrate
50 centimeters.
That's more than
almost two feet.
So we went deep
into the asteroid,
fired our thrusters
and backed away
with the sample intact
in this sampler head.
That was cool.
We didn't expect that.
We expected
contact 5 seconds later,
grab the good stuff
and come home.
So dynamic interactions,
learning about how
these objects work.
As you heard from Lori Glaze,
this is how we
get to understand
the worlds that we need
for planetary security.
And I've even even heard
this described
as a ball pit that that's
how loose
the material was
when they approached. Exactly.
If we had kept going,
we didn't have that
smart spacecraft,
all that great engineering.
We could have engulfed ourself
in this rubble.
That's not good.
But no crap happened.
And we're on the way home
and we have a sample
that's coming here
to the clean room
right here a mile away.
All right. Fantastic.
Well,
now that the team
is bringing the sexy back
to the clean room here in Utah,
what do we what can we expect?
So the next step is really
clean, is really important.
What will that
special apparatus
that's carrying
sample return canister
with this thing inside it,
right to the clean room,
bring it in.
Take off
the elements of the aeroshell.
That's the thermal protection
system in the back
here will take those off
and set up the plumbing
to get the nitrogen purge
on on this particular
sample ahead. That's critical.
All right. That's next.
Right.
Let's get an update
from our gal in the field.
Take it away, Sophia.
Let's put these puppies down.
Things
are this much quieter
over here now.
But for those of you
who are just tuning in,
this is where
the helicopters departed
that were carrying
our teams of experts
that are now having
been through
a large part
of the recovery process today.
But really, that's all I have
for your updates
here from Wigg Mountain
overlooking that vast
landing zone.
But if you do see,
we are miles away from the live
broadcast hangar
and it took me
30 minutes
to get that 12
and a half miles.
And that gives you an idea
of how long it takes
to traverse this tough terrain,
which is also why
the recovery teams
chose to use helicopters
to get that capsule
safely to the clean.
I luckily had a chance
to talk to the pilots
of those helicopters
just the other day.
So let's take a look
at the Osiris-rex
sample return capsule
just endured
a lengthy
3.8 billion mile journey.
But the adventure doesn't end
once touches down,
the landing zone
itself is so large
and the terrain
so difficult
to navigate
that the recovery team delivers
the capsule to the clean room
by helicopter.
Joe is going to be
the man
hauling the capsule
out on the long line.
And then Ryan McDonald
is another member
and he will be
hauling scientists
along with myself,
the rest of the capture team.
So, Ben,
can you tell me
about the actual procedure
of taking the capsule
on the long line?
It's 100 foot long
synthetic line.
It's got an electrical cord
with it
that will hook on the belly
of the helicopter.
There you go.
Point it out right?
Yep. That's the hook.
The line will go on.
The pilot will lower this
hook down
to pick up the capsule.
They'll fly it
back to the clean room,
lower it down,
and when he lowers it downhill,
hit a little button
on this collective.
It will release that hook,
and he'll fly away with the.
This is not a normal ride.
Can you show us
how you fly this
for this particular mission?
Yeah.
So in this helicopter
when we're doing
vertical reference,
that's you call it
when you have a line on
now to see the end of the line,
I'll be leaning out like this.
It's a,
it's an awkward position
and kind of lean
and look back
because my hooks
can be right down
in the middle of
the helicopter.
It will be this button,
this button here
is the remote hook.
And that
will keep the line
on the belly,
but it'll open
that little green
remote hook
when you push it forward.
The experience of these pilots
is all a part
of preserving
this pristine
sample of ancient
solar system material.
And we all cannot wait
to see what chemical compounds
the capsule holds.
We're now joined
by Robert Lightfoot
from Lockheed Martin Space,
representing the team
that built
and flew
the Osiris-rex spacecraft
for NASA.
Robert, welcome.
Well, thanks for having me.
What a great day.
Pretty exciting.
And it's Robert.
Thank you. Exciting.
So this spacecraft
has many firsts
and unique tech as well.
Can you tell us more
about some of the
new technologies
that were integrated into us?
That was Rex.
Yeah.
You know, there's three
that come to mind for me.
The first is
obviously the touch
and go sample collector,
where we had to come up
with what
we call the pogo stick,
how we're going to hit,
how going to hit the asteroid
and collect the the sample.
That Was the first thing
something that
a natural feature
terrain activity that we did
that was really associated with
it was kind of a backup
for guidance and navigation,
but we didn't mean it
because when we
to the asteroid, you remember,
there were very large boulders.
We didn't expect to see
that we had to fly through.
And then finally,
probably the most unsung part
was our digital twin.
We created a digital
for the spacecraft,
which, if you remember,
this was right
in the middle of COVID, Right.
And so so
being able to do the sample
and use the digital twin
to to do all the practicing
for before we took
the sample was
probably thrilled that
those are the three things
that come to mind for me.
And Robert,
you mentioned the Tagsam,
the critical pogo stick and.
We heard that it all began
with a
red cup in some conversations
with napkins and things.
Can you tell us about that
at exactly what happened?
I do it.
I mean, it was a solo cup
and some kind of activity
that we did there
and really
think about
some of the most famous
missions that I've done.
And that's what
we've done in the past as we've
we've used to
somebody sketched it
out on a napkin and
and the engineers
turn it into reality
and then the scientists
get to get their reward.
Thank you, Robert.
What a great story.
What a fantastic story.
Well Thank you
so much for joining us, Robert,
and congratulations again.
Banks are really proud
of the team, Lockheed
Martin team and everything.
I'll take care.
We're keeping our eyes
on ground operations
as teams work
to secure the CRC.
Take measurements
at the landing site
and get everything ready
for its transit
to a specially prepared
clean room a few miles away.
Today's is a big day,
but to tell you the truth,
Natalya is starry
eyed about asteroids
and for good reason.
Asteroids are time
capsules for the solar system
and are vital
research destinations
for learning about our origins
and perhaps our futures.
While today's events
focus on returning
bits of the asteroid bennu,
that's not the only asteroid
in NASA's plans.
Let's take a look
at a glittering list
of other places
where and where to visit.
One year ago, on
September 26, 2022,
NASA's DART mission
navigated to the small
asteroid that amorphous
and deliberately
crashed into it.
Dimorphism
is a tiny moon orbiting
the asteroid did a miss,
which is just a bit
larger than Bennu
and composed of stony material.
The dart impact
amorphous orbital
period by 33 minutes,
making it the first full scale
demonstration of asteroid
deflection technology.
This summer,
while the Bennu
samples were approaching,
Earth, technicians
in Titusville,
Florida, were preparing
the psyche spacecraft
to visit an asteroid
of a different type.
Psyche is named
after its
massive target
16 psyche,
which is about 400 times
larger than Bennu
and more than three times
as dense.
The psyche
will visit
an asteroid that may consist
of a significant
amount of nickel ion
metal mixed with rock.
It will remotely study
16 Psyche's Elemental
topography and gravitational
and magnetic fields.
The mission
will provide insights
into the formation
of terrestrial planets
like Earth.
Psyche's window
opens on October 5th.
November.
Maybe sweater weather for folks
in the Northern Hemisphere.
But for the Lucy mission,
things will just be heating up.
On November 1st,
Lucy will train its cameras
on the main belt.
Asteroid disconnection.
It will take pictures
while rapidly
flying by
and test its ability
to track asteroids
during high speed encounters.
The Disconnect
flyby will prepare Lucy
for its next encounter
with the main belt
asteroid Donald
Johanson in 2025.
In 2027,
Lucy will begin its long trip
through the Jupiter
Trojans
to swarms
of primitive
asteroids trapped
in Jupiter's orbit
that are thought to be the
of planet formation.
As the weather
starts to cool down.
Hold on to your hats.
It's going to be an
asteroid autumn to remember.
A lot of work obviously went
into getting this
special delivery
to Earth,
but our pursuit for scientific
answers is just beginning.
Joining US
now is Danny Glavin
co-investigator
on the Osiris-rex mission.
Danny, welcome.
Thank you.
It's great to have samples.
We got an incredible
you know, so
Danny is somebody who looks
for the building blocks of life
in extraterrestrial materials.
What are you expecting to
find in the Bennu sample?
Yeah.
So, I mean, we're definitely
looking for the building
of life,
and we've been
studying meteorites
that we think look like bennu.
And so I fully expect
to find amino
acids, the building blocks
of proteins,
sugars, energy source for life,
nucleus basis, right.
Parts of the genetic code.
So we'll see what
that tells us.
One thing
I've learned from this
mission is so many surprises.
Sample analysis
probably won't be an exception.
We're going to be surprised.
So so, Danny,
I want to talk to you
about some of the
new techniques you use,
but I'm going to introduce
a guest.
We have
this little guest here
is actually a meteorite
from Mars.
And you've looked at those.
Yeah, this is a new one.
We know it's from Mars.
This measurements from Viking
Curiosity tells us that.
But it's,
you know,
it's like
taking the ride from Mars here,
that Mother Nature gave it.
So can you kind of talk
about the techniques
you'll use
in those primitive materials
that we have on the samples
from venue versus
those you use
on these meteorites,
like from Mars?
Yeah, actually, you know,
there are going to be
some of the same techniques.
We studied Mars meteorites.
Of course,
one of the challenges with all
is they get contaminated
when they get around.
You're looking for the building
blocks of life.
And, you know,
the contamination
really makes it hard
to tease out
what formed in space.
So that's why this so special.
These bennu samples,
pristine materials. Right.
We're going to be able
to trust the organic results
from these samples.
I just can't tell you
how excited.
Well, so
our Martian gives us the
to know that to be ready
for what you have on Bennu
and to get ready for Mars
sample return
when we conduct that.
Absolutely.
I mean,
we've been practicing
on meteorites
to get ready for bennu
and we are ready.
They're ready. We're ready.
Let's go, Let's go.
And how exciting is
a piece of my Mars?
Oh, my God.
You'll be touching Bennu.
Well, not with fingers.
That's right.
Like all occasions,
your loved one
is approaching
the general vicinity.
Well, the first thing.
All right, so you just heard.
We are approaching
the clean room facility.
Let's toss to Jim for James
for an update. Take it away.
Yeah.
Lance,
this is the final leg
of the journey of the CRC.
It has been loaded
on the helicopter
a few minutes ago
with a long line
to get those operations,
to bring it back to the Dugway
Clean Room.
And in just a few moments,
we'll have a nice view
from just outside us here
as it comes back over.
And I can see.
Actually right now,
we have a view
of that helicopter
with the SLC attached below
coming into view
over the Dugway Cleanroom.
You can see this wonderful
final view
and because we're able to
transport it
this way, this is determine
the most efficient way
to actually get this SIRC
to the clean room.
It gives us a phenomenal
final view
here of that last flight.
Truly a parade
for the sample return here.
And just a stunning view
of the Utah test
and training range
surrounding mountains.
And there is that SIRC beneath
the helicopter
with the long line.
There's about a hundred foot
of that long line there.
You heard from
one of our helicopter
pilots earlier that they
do this a very carefully.
They hang out the window
of that plane,
of the helicopter, rather,
to determine
the safety of that SIRC,
making sure
that they are continuing
to travel
properly with this SIRC
to the clean room.
And as we speak, team
members are staged and waiting
just outside that clean room,
ready to get that SIRC
back on the ground once more.
There are team members
already in the clean room
gowned up.
They've been waiting there
all morning.
They know what they need to do
for this next step
to get that ICRC in.
It's going to actually be
wheeled into the clean room.
They're going to go
through a brief operation
of cleaning off
a little bit
of the thermal blanketing,
taking all of that off
and then wheeling the SIRC
and placing it into room.
They're going to remove
the heat
shield in the back of the SIRC
and actually get
the sample canister out.
You just heard from Jim
a few moments ago.
The most important next up
here is getting that sample
canister on a nitrogen purge.
And we'll remind you again,
that is to keep the sample
within pristine
uncontaminated
from the atmospheric particles
that surround us,
getting that sample nice.
And on that nitrogen purge,
just a great view.
You can see it
hanging beneath our helicopter.
They're not seeing it at all
because of that gimbal
that is keeping it stable.
Low winds today.
And then as our C
is bagged
in several blanketing
inside that cargo netting.
And in just a few moments,
it's going to be lowered down.
Team members
outside the clean room,
the first team members
to actually approach this scene
once it lands will be wearing
personal protective
equipment and gas masks.
Once again,
they're going to do another
safety assessment
of that SIRC approaching with
those PPE
to take gas measurements
to make sure that the batteries
did not heat up
and out gas at all
during this short flight.
And then once
they give the greenlight,
there will be a brief
team huddle
and then the
next step of the recovery
operations will continue.
They'll get that SIRC
onto a small carrying cart
and you can see
it being lowered
down the clean room,
The top of the clean room.
The building, rather,
is in view
and that SIRC is coming down
to the ground,
slowly being lowered.
Everything about this
has been carefully planned out,
a very slow process.
You can see a wonderful view
of the Stasi
in the cargo netting.
That metal piece on the bottom
is the carrying fixture
that helps team
members actually
carry this SIRC.
In just a few moments.
Yes, her seat will be back
on the ground,
its second
touchdown of the day,
a much calmer
one than we had
earlier this morning.
And you see
members approaching,
grabbing that co-ordinating
to get the SSA on the ground.
And in just a few seconds
we'll have a release
of that long line.
And there you have it,
the Stasi has arrived
at the clean room claps
from the audience
in the back room.
They're very excited
to have this back
on the ground.
And then just a few moments,
team members will approach
a very excited celebration.
Great to have it on the ground.
And this is the last
step of the process
for today's event,
getting that Stasi
in the clean room.
In just a few moments,
you'll see
team members approaching
and beginning
to unwrap the gift within.
You can see
our first team members
walking up
with that gas mask on.
This is once again for team
members safety,
just to make sure
that the operations
are continuing nominally,
that there are no possible
outgassing
from the batteries within.
The rest of the team will wait
for this
initial safety assessment
before making their approach,
and there was some assistance
for the step.
The process from our team
members out in the field,
They when they bagged
the recovery operations
and the SRP has been delivered
to the cleaning facility
and has been prepared
to transfer
into the clean room.
So Zoe's removing the cargo
netting now
and she's
going to look at those X marks,
those tape,
the markers there,
they're kept on tape
that the team out in the field
actually placed
on that thermal blanketing.
They let her know exactly
where the air vents are,
the gas vents on the sa c
so she doesn't have to unwrap
the whole thing.
She can just unwrap
that small part
and take her gas readings
just to make sure
that we're not
accessing anything from
the batteries within.
She'll still take, once
again some thermal measurements
just to make sure when safe
operational temperatures.
We don't anticipate
any kind of additional
heating on that.
SIRC,
you can see her opening up
ever so slightly.
That thermal blanketing
right at that, kept on tape
taking her readings.
You can see another layer
of that thermal
blanketing there
and then the saucy is safely
stored.
She's further unwrapping
the s RCU.
There is additional
thermal blanket.
You can see there's
a couple of layers.
There's two layers,
the thermal blanketing
and then the tarp
over top everything.
She just needs to access
that interior part
and take her gas reading.
You see her with the instrument
now taking initial
thermal temperature reading
and not of the head there.
It looks like
everything is nominal
and she'll
take a gas reading here.
Can hear the helicopters
buzzing overhead here.
The rest of our recovery team
just shortly,
a few minutes
ago, landed nearby
and we speak on the other side
of where Zoe is right now.
There are team members
preparing the clean room
for the last leg
of the recovery operations.
Getting that SIRC,
the clean room,
and beginning the process
of extracting
that sample
canister from within.
So he continues to
assess the situation
here for safety.
She's beckoning for her team
to come over.
It seems like it is safe
for the recovery operations
to continue and two more team
members will be joining her
to assist with this next step
of the operation.
And here
come a few more team
members as well.
Approaching now
as Rich Weatherspoon
has been overseeing
a lot of the operations
out here at Dugway.
There's been a
number of rehearsals.
We have a ground view now,
so we cleared to take off her
gas mask.
Big smile, very excited
to get that SIRC back here.
It appears to be safe
to continue
the next step
of the operations,
getting that sample
return capsule
in the clean room.
She's putting away her
thermal protecting gloves.
The rest of the team
is there ready to begin,
actually.
Getting this seat unwrapped
and onto a small cart
that will be rolled over
in just a few seconds.
Just giving the team
an update on the status here.
The do these team huddles
just to make sure everyone
is on the same page
with the recovery operations.
It is
always simultaneous action.
Everything is
perfectly coordinated
like a ballet dance,
especially once
they get in the clean room.
You'll see
some of those operations.
They are very well
choreographed
and you can see
they are backing it up
just a little bit more
before they do this.
Next up,
the operation of actually
lifting it up onto the cart
that will then be
wheeled into the clean room.
Everything has really been
thought out
in advance, down
to the actual material
of the gloves
the team members are to use
and actually
handling the sample
return capsule.
Nylon actually 916.
It's a polymer
which is very similar
to a protein.
And so when nylon gets wet,
hydrolyzed is it breaks up
and releases a compound
called Epsilon
amino acid
that can be seen
in some meteorites.
So in order to distinguish
between the chemistry
that we see on Bennu
and the chemistry
that we see on nylon
degradation,
we need to make sure that
these sorts
of classes of compounds
are kept away from the sample.
So nylon
gloves are not to be used.
The gloves
you see the team members
wearing
are made out of Nitrile,
which is safe to be used.
You can see
two of our team members
carrying that sample return
capsule over to our cleanroom,
our camera crew,
following behind, documenting
this whole process.
And you can see that
cart in the background there.
This is to help the team wheel
the SC into the clean room.
That big metal door
there will be open
for just a few moments
and the team will wait
just for the dust to settle.
It'll kick up
a little bit of dust.
So they want to wait
for that to settle
and be visually clean
is the way the team
describes it
before they continue
to wheel that SLC and further
removing the TARP,
covering that
thermal blanketing
protective layer of the SC.
And you can see
on the other side of the door
the team members
for the Clean Room
team are waiting to acquire
that SC within
and one big lift off
for members
really digging down underneath.
They're
getting that SC up
onto that fixture,
a bit of a heavy lift
you can see and we have it
successfully on there.
There's some padding
protecting that as C as
it rests lightly.
You can see the the white
padding underneath the SIRC.
In just a
few moments teams
will await clearance
to open those gates,
open that door,
get the AC
inside the clean room,
getting in
on that nitrogen purge.
Just a few months later,
a knock on the door.
And there it is.
The clean room
door is opening up
our Johnson team
on the other side,
waiting for their
precious cargo to arrive.
And it is
wheeled into the door.
We have the ICRC inside
just sitting outside
the clean room.
You can see
at the left of your screen
with the NASA meatball
Neo Cyrus Rex insignia.
That is our portable clean room
that has been set up here
at Dugway
for the sole purpose
of this part of the operation.
This last step of the process
of getting the CRC opened up,
accessing the
sample canister within,
getting it on a nitrogen purge.
And then actually
tomorrow morning,
we'll have a C-17 cargo plane
flying this precious cargo down
to the Johnson Space Center
at the Johnson Space Center.
They've actually built
a custom clean room
for the Osiris-rex
Bennu samples
as I mentioned earlier,
they're going to be joining
a historic collection
that also includes samples
from the Apollo program
that were collected
at the surface of the moon,
as well as samples
from Stardust and Genesis,
both of which actually yet
landed here
in the Utah Test
and Training Range
a number of years ago,
and also
some Antarctic meteorites.
We might actually be opening up
the sample canister today
so that
we'll actually have to wait
just a few days.
So the team will have to
be patient
still as they wait
for the
official opening
of the sample canister.
But what you're seeing now,
a bunch of team members
will lift up the CRC
for our curation team
to reach underneath, scrape off
any kind of dirt
and place it back on
to our carrying fixture here.
All of these samples will
then be looked at as well.
Any kind of
environmental samples
that potentially came
in contact with our s RC
are of interest
to the Johnson team.
So all of that
will be documented for later
as the team continues
to shed the thermal
blanketing layers
that were protecting our CRC
on its journey.
On the long line,
you can see
a couple of team members
looking through the windows
of the clean room,
waiting for their
part of the process to kick off
as they get the CRC. We'll then
get a nice close up
view of the CRC here.
You can really see how
charred it is
from that entry
into Earth's atmosphere.
That is the back shield
that you're seeing
of the CRC in the top part
there has been sealed off.
That is actually
where the parachute
was deployed from.
See, there's that yellowish
orange seal
that was placed on top there
where the parachute
disconnected from the scene.
A brief team
huddle here
as they walk
through the next step
of the operation,
making sure
everyone is on the same page
here as they
will lift up the CRC
ever so slightly.
And the team has
these brush tools.
You can see one of our curators
carrying one in her right
hand there
to lift up the CRC scene.
She's going to scrape off
any dirt
from the Utah desert
that was on the bottom.
That will actually then
be certainly of interest
to the curation team
as they begin to analyze
the sample we got back.
You can see they're
giving it a little brush,
very charred surface
of that saucy,
that metallic portion.
Below is the heat shield,
which protected our sample
on its journey
through Earth's atmosphere
to the Utah Test
and training range.
You'll see a lift of that
S or C for team members
to access underneath,
checking for any dirt.
It doesn't look like
we really had any develop.
And this is actually
great because what happened
was since
the soil was so damp today,
we had a little
bit of moisture.
It was actually
a much softer landing.
So not as much dust
really caked on
that as our see it landed
perfectly on the surface
of the Utah desert.
They're going to place this
back down again.
It seems like
their operations are going
perfectly according
to plan here
to do another lift
on the other side
just so they can access
where the team members
were previously holding.
And then if all looks
good, they will clear this
to be
wheeled into the clean room
and really just backing up
and thinking about
this entire journey
from where
we started this morning,
right before
maybe about 4 hours
before we kicked off
our broadcast,
the team at Lockheed
Martin gave the go to release
the CRC that you see right here
from the main Osiris-rex
spacecraft, detach
from that spacecraft
on its four hour solo journey.
There's nothing
we could do at that point.
As it entered into
Earth's atmosphere,
began the punishing entry,
descent and landing,
which took us to the Utah Test
and Training Range.
Out in the field, teams
worked to recover the sample.
They actually continued
to take samples, environmental
and air samples
of the region around
where we landed.
We successfully bagged
the sample return
capsule in thermal blanketing
that you see right there
beneath the surface.
See that plastic
looking material
We transported
it successfully
with our longline operations.
Big thanks to our helicopter
crew today for helping us
get the sample return
capsule to the clean room.
A couple more lists
here, you see,
and they're going
to remove that
last layer
of thermal blanketing,
placing the SLC on its own
without any layering
onto our carrying fixture.
You can see just how charged up
those gloves look.
A lot of that char
from the heat shield
getting off on their gloves.
You can just see how dark it is
really heating up.
Initially
when we hit the
earth's atmosphere,
we were at over
5000 degrees Fahrenheit.
That's about half as hot
as the surface of the sun,
quite warm.
It's cooled off substantially.
So obviously, as it's
been transported
throughout the day here
and is now
just moments away
from getting transported
into our NASA clean room
that you can see on the
right of your screen.
Team members are all gowned up.
And inside that clean room
there is a fixture dead center
that this
SIRC will be placed on
that will allow the team
to be able to gather around
and begin to open up
this nesting doll
protective layer to SIRC
to access our precious cargo.
That sample canister within.
Again,
they want to make sure
that everything is clear.
Before they wheeled us in.
Everyone's ready to go.
Everything looks good.
Before that,
we'll that sample
return capsule
into our clean room.
Just truly an incredible day.
And the science
that's within these
samples is truly hard to fathom
right now,
just how influential
the science is going to be.
Keep in mind,
these samples
are from the origins
of the solar system.
Billions of years ago.
They hold the clues to how
everything around us
came to be.
And in just a few short
weeks, scientists
will begin
to analyze these samples
and stow away even more sample
for generations to come.
Future scientists
will be able to open
these samples
and continue
the journey of service.
Rex
As we speak,
this incredible mission
still has not come to an end.
Our spacecraft,
our intrepid robotic
explorer or Cyrus Rex,
is now dubbed Osiris Apex,
heading to the asteroid Apophis
in the year 2029.
Obviously,
we do not have
that sample return capsule
or the sample Tagsam,
which actually helped us
collect that air
filter looking thing
that helped us
collect these samples
at the surface of it
that is no longer attached
because it's sitting
right here in our clean room.
But the mission will continue.
The team will map the asteroid
Apophis in great detail,
similar to what we did
with Bennu
descending down to the surface,
firing its thrusters,
kicking up a sample,
and as we speak,
the sample that it got from
Bennu back
in 2020 is just moments away
from being wheeled
into the cleanroom
the team doing
one more sweep,
cleaning off those wheels
that came in contact with
the pavement outside
just before getting this
saucy wheeled over
into the clean room.
Just truly
an incredible journey
of this mission.
3.86 billion miles
total to bennu
and back with this sample.
And now it's
just a few feet away
from our clean room.
You can see on your screen
to some of the gas coverings,
to those vent covers
that were placed
out in the field
that prevented
any kind of contaminants
from getting into the CRC.
And as I mentioned before,
that stasis and nesting,
all of sorts, very protective.
And within
there is a complex
network of tubing, labyrinth
like tubing,
preventing any
kind of contaminants
from getting into the sample.
But the team still wants to get
that sample canister
on a nitrogen purge
that will ensure
that it will stay
clean, pristine
from any possible atmosphere
contamination.
It's going to stay
on that nitrogen purge
all the way through its trip
down to Johnson Space Center,
where ultimately
it will be opened
at their curation facility.
You can see in the bottom
left of your screen are team
members inside the clean room
all gowned up.
And right at the bottom there,
that kind of gold ish bronze
looking fixture
is where this exercise
is going to be placed for the
next step of the operations.
This,
as everything
has been,
is a very careful process,
choreographed
every step of the way.
Team wants to ensure
that everything is cleared
before they wheeled that in.
We are just moments away
from that will
of the CRC
into our portable clean room.
You can see in the background
in the picture,
Jason Dworkin observing.
He's one of our astrobiologist
from NASA Goddard.
He will be looking
at these samples
along with
hundreds of scientists
from around the world,
helping us better understand
the origins
of our solar system.
The anticipation builds
for this final moment
a massive sigh of relief
at this part of the way,
because we have
that uncertainty now
not only on the ground,
but just
inches away
from our clean room.
The team looking inside there
just to ensure
everything is good, to go
get a great shot of the NASA
meatball and the Service
Rex logo
on the doors of the clean room,
the operations
at Johnson Space Center.
Once this sample canister
is transported,
there will be truly a sight
to behold as well.
In just a few days,
we're actually going
to get
our first science results
from the sample within.
And as I mentioned,
they built a custom clean room
at the Johnson Space Center
for this very purpose.
The team that you see on screen
here has been rehearsing
at that clean room,
preparing for the big event
of actually getting that sample
opened up
and beginning to parse it out
and ship it
to labs around the world,
stowing a lot of it
for future generations.
Truly
an incredible amount of science
that we can't even begin
to imagine
is trapped within those rocks.
And I
personally am very
excited to see
exactly how much sample
we got back.
The original mission
requirement was a mere 60 grams
in an explosive tag event,
an asteroid Bennu back in 2020,
excavating over six
tons of material
when we contacted the surface
and stowed potentially
250 grams of sample
within that tagsam device.
That air filter
that Jim was just shown
a few moments ago.
There are also no radio
frequency signals
allowed inside the building
that you see here to
the building
is on ordnance protocol.
They want to make sure
that everyone is safe
here, that there
could still be active
ordnances from the parachute
deployment with the Service
Rex spacecraft.
We had a mortar fire
to release that parachute,
that orange parachute
that took us to the last stage
of our journey to the surface
of the Utah Test
entering range,
crewmembers pacing around
inside that clean room,
waiting to get that SRT inside.
And so when they
actually open up the SIRC,
removing that back shell,
the sample canister,
they will attach
a couple tripod
looking legs to it,
these small legs
that will allow them
to flip it over
onto a table nearby.
They can see that metal table
in the back of the clean room.
And at that point
they're going to
put it on the nitrogen purge.
You can see they're moving
that fixture
a little bit closer to the door
because they're just going
to lift
that SIRC off
of the carrying fixture
and place it on to
the clearance fixture.
It's a
quick little transfer,
very quick
opening of the doors
in just a second here,
you can see your team members
moving that
a little bit closer.
The doors are now open.
We're entering
into the clean room
and that SASE is about
to be moved off
on to our clean room fixture,
our clean room team members
carrying that sase in
and these doors
will be slammed shut
just as soon as we can
get that assorted fixture out.
And there we go.
It is in the clean room.
The SIRC
from the desert of Utah
earlier this morning
arriving has been
successfully delivered
to the Dugway Portable
Clean Room.
You can just see just how
charred that SIRC
back, shell
and heat shield are.
A great close up angle here.
You can really see
our prized sample
return capsule at long last
in the clean room.
It's hard to fathom
that just
a couple of years ago,
this sample return capsule
that you see here was over
200 million miles away from us
on the other side
of the solar system,
the Research Rex spacecraft
worked to quickly
stow the sample
it got from the asteroid BENNU
at a sample site Nightingale
into this sample
return capsule.
We slam that lid, shut
it, prepared it for the long
journey back.
It took 1.2
billion miles
to get from the asteroid Bennu
after sample collection
to Earth's atmosphere,
we entered in 82 miles off
the surface of San Francisco,
went through the punishing
entry, descent and landing,
landed in the desert,
and now here we have it,
the sample return capsule
in our clean room.
The team is going to move this
a little bit
over to the center of the room
so they can all gather around
and begin the process
of removing that back shell
and then ultimately getting
the heat shield off as well.
So what's going to
come up next here
is that back
show that you see there,
the team will remove, then
get the sample canister
that is within it to complex
network of tubing
to get to that sample canister.
And this is also,
like I mentioned, a nesting
doll of sorts
protecting our sample within.
They're going
to get that sample
canister out.
They're going to get it
on a nitrogen purge.
That is our safe point.
That's what we're looking
to get to today.
As soon as we're
there, operations for the day
will effectively be completed
tomorrow.
The CRC,
the sample canister,
rather, will be flown
on her C-17
cargo plane down to the Johnson
Space Center, where
in just a few days
it will actually be opened up
for scientists
to be able
to see the sample within.
It's been incredible
covering the moments of today,
the journey of our SAIC
from BENNU
to the desert of Utah
to our CLEANROOM.
And for now, back to you.
Learned Jim
Fields, your coverage
has been impeccable.
We could not have done it
without you. Go, James.
So to be clear, the newly
designed, redesigned Apex
mission
will not be touching down
on its destination
asteroid Apophis.
The big reason for that,
of course,
is that the vehicle's single
use sample collection device
just arrived here on Earth,
containing samples
of asteroid bennu.
After more than hundreds
of millions of miles in space,
that sample will now travel
a few hundred more miles
to a specially prepared home
where experts intend
not only to study it,
but also preserve it
for future generations.
That facility is the purview
of our next guests.
Eileen Stansbury
is the chief
of the Astro Materials
Materials Research
and Exploration Division
at the Johnson Space Center.
Welcome, Eileen.
Welcome. Welcome, welcome.
Thank you.
How about that?
Did you check out that
all of that cool movement
between the clean room
and everyone preparing it?
Absolutely.
It's it's so exciting.
Anytime you get samples back
and being here today
to receive the Bennu
samples is a highlight.
The team has been
extraordinary.
The
the work that all
the variety of of
participants, team
members, teammates
that work on this mission
have been extraordinary
from the the flight teams the
the mission development
teams operations
science curation
all working together
to bring these samples
home to us.
And
it may seem
as if it takes a lot of time
getting into the clean room
and processing
in the clean room.
But a lot of that is because
of preserving
the contamination,
the scientific integrity,
minimizing the contamination
on the samples.
Clean room
protocol is always slow
and methodical
to allow any dust or particles
that gets generated
or any of the debris
from the back gel
to settle
before you do the next step.
So all of these steps
are very
carefully choreographed
to ensure
the scientific integrity
and maintain the pristine
nature of these samples.
And you'll be doing,
Eileen, when you receive this
in your laboratories at Houston
and Johnson Space Center,
you'll be doing the next phase
of that very special curation.
Can you tell us
a little about that?
Yes, we're
we have a special facility
that was designed
in particular for these samples
to have
all of the appropriate
materials restrictions
to make sure
that these particular samples
stay pristine for generations
to come.
As stewards
of the scientific
value of samples, we manage
samples for future generations
in addition
to the current science
that is available
on these samples.
So the first thing
that we will do
is bring them
into one particular clean room,
let it settle
and we will
transfer the
the sample canister
from one level
of cleanliness
progressively to the next level
of cleanliness to ultimately
a continuously purged
nitrogen glovebox.
So what they're doing here
in the clean room in Utah
is to remove the contaminating,
contaminating potential
of the heat shield
and back shell
that were charred
during reentry
and get the sample canister
on purge
to have nitrogen
continuously flowing
through that canister
to ensure that there's no
earth contamination as
that will leak in,
even though the
likelihood of that
is vanishingly
small,
making sure that there's
a continuous nitrogen purge.
So that nitrogen purge
will stay
on the sample canister
until it gets into the
nitrogen glovebox in Houston,
where we will start
integrating the sample canister
to get to the precious
cargo inside
which are inside the sample
head, which is.
Yes, right. Okay.
But there is the possibility
of some samples
being within the sample
return capsule.
This capsule here,
because the Tagsam
event worked
more well than we anticipated.
There could be some
sample of bennu
within the sample capsule.
And so we will make sure that
that sample
also gets identified
and saved
to maintain its integrity here
so that there
so that it also retains
its value.
Wow. What an opportunity.
We may have more goodies
than we thought.
We thought. Geez, Eileen.
Well, John,
thank you so much
for joining us today.
We've love.
Thank you, Mike.
Really.
Eileen, congratulations.
Thank you. And we're so excited
your whole professional life
has been planning
for a future event.
And then suddenly that day
arrives, like today,
which is
probably a perfect segue way
to be bringing up something
that may come as an unexpected
surprise to mission fans.
Today may be the conclusion
of flight operations
for Osiris-rex,
but the mission
is not exactly finished.
After ground teams
retrieve the capsule,
the BENNU samples will be taken
to NASA's Johnson Space Center
in Houston, Texas.
The sample canister
will be opened
in the Astro Materials
Acquisition
and Curation Facility.
In the samples
will be curated, distributed
and studied
for decades to come.
Having delivered its cargo,
the Osiris-rex spacecraft
will depart Earth,
but its journey
will not quite be finished.
In a daring encore,
the renamed Osiris
Apex will enter
an elliptical orbit of the sun,
repeatedly passing
within the orbit of Venus
and pushing the limits
of its thermal design.
Beginning in 2029,
it will chase down
and investigate
Apophis, a 1200 foot
stony asteroid
destined to make
an exceptionally close flyby
of Earth.
After 13 years in deep space
at the start of a new decade
alone on a new world,
the journey will continue.
Jim Osiris-rex collected
its samples
and is bringing them
back to Earth for analysis
like we've all watched today.
But how else is NASA's
planning to analyze
its other samples?
So if you heard from Eileen
Cyrus
Rex in Houston,
we'll start
the sample preparation
around hundreds of labs later.
It's going to be fantastic.
We also sometimes
bring our laboratories
to the samples themselves.
Curiosity rover,
she's carrying a huge payload,
not unlike
those we'll use
in laboratories here.
Sometimes we go to new places
to actually bring the labs
to study samples
that we can't bring home.
That's our new wrinkle.
And on that note,
you know,
when I consider how many places
there are to visit, I'm aware
that a guy like you
is probably weighing
all of the choices
you know about where to go.
So speaking of which,
you are
the principal investigator
for a new mission
called Da Vinci,
which for those at home
principal investigator
is basically
the big guy in charge.
So what is this mission about?
So Da Vinci
is a mission to Venus.
You could see it
in the morning sky.
And we haven't been back
to the Venus
atmosphere
and all the complexity
and how that formed and evolved
literally in a generation.
So together
with a very big team, it's
not just the PI.
I mean,
Dante is the gold standard pi
for all of us,
but with our team,
we're going to bring
a spacecraft
with the kind
of instrumentation
we'll be using on the samples
from Bennu and from Mars
to the samples
in the atmosphere.
That'll tell us
about
the assembly of
that atmosphere,
whether Venus had oceans
for how long,
and come under the clouds
and see the mountainous regions
and their chemistry
for the first time in history.
And so we're excited to pick up
on the great news
from from this mission.
And I respect that bennu
and to Mars exploration
and take that forward to Venus.
So we'll get
the next generation
interested in our
sister planet.
So everybody stay
tuned for that one.
So, Jim,
you've also been the PI
of several previous missions.
Put yourself in Dante's shoes.
How would you feel today?
Dante must be both overwhelmed
and overjoyed.
He's probably,
as my wife says,
about me, beyond words.
And he's been waiting
literally his
professional lifetime for this.
It's here, It's happening.
The science is going to flow.
They can't miss.
Honestly,
I am sure
Dante and his team
are just sitting on on pins
and needles
waiting for the transfer
to Houston,
all that stuff, Eileen said,
so we can get to work.
This will be epic.
And Jim,
not only are you
the Pi of of Da Vinci,
but you actually had a hand
in Osiris-rex as well.
Well, way back in the dark
mists of 15 years ago,
we were all wondering
how we can sample things
as hard as asteroids
like the DO
and people
like Dante and others
generated the idea.
We were all talking
because we wanted to think,
How do we sample
the solar system,
cruise to the moon? Great.
You know, giant sample
return systems to Mars.
Fabulous.
But these small bodies
are also important,
and they've been a priority
for our National Academy.
Cometary nuclei,
asteroids like,
of course, carbon
bearing ones like Bennu.
So when those folks
got together,
we were all in conversation
and they proposed mission ideas
and some of us
were able to participate
in very small ways to help them
get these missions going.
It's just a thrill to see them
succeed so well,
especially after 15 years.
As you can see,
Jim is a wealth of knowledge.
So on that note,
we're getting questions
from around the world
about this thrilling mission.
Let's take
our final questions of the day.
All right. And oatmeal.
Today is my birthday.
Can I have some of
the asteroid sample?
It would mean a lot.
Well,
you know,
you heard there's other
birthdays today, too. And
I think oatmeal saw that it
was also Colonel Charles.
But but is standing
Glavin and Jason said,
you know,
the samples from Bennu
are for scientific research,
education, inspiration.
They'll be used,
you know,
for future generations,
even as Eileen said
and Jason said.
So unfortunately,
we can't give you bennu
we can give you pictures
and up close vantage point
like we've given you today.
And as the science is done
by the science community.
And so you'll be part of that.
You can write proposals
to work on samples.
If you have a neat
new instrument you want to try.
So stay tuned.
Stay tuned.
And I understand oatmeal.
I also want
a piece of that sample.
But we got to you know, we can.
All right, Jim,
let's take one more.
All right.
At electoral menace here,
I got that right.
What questions
are we hoping to answer
by studying the samples
from asteroid BENNU?
Well, fantastic question.
And there are many.
It's all in the name,
so we want to look
at those building
block chemistries
of the earliest solar system.
It's all eradicated
here on Earth.
We have to go to places
like Bennu
or other asteroids
like it to get those records.
So we're going to look
in the deep time
to understand our solar system
from those chemicals.
We're also going to look at
how we use
a real asteroid stuff
to understand
what we see of other asteroids
through telescopes
and flyby spacecraft.
That's the ground truthing
or the asteroid ground
truth thing that we do.
We're also going
to look at resource potential.
These asteroids contain
bound water in minerals.
Those are really cool.
You can get the water out.
That's neat.
Also interesting
distribution of metals.
So this is a really
exciting opportunity
to put that all together
and also understand
the mechanical
behavior of these objects.
They're rubble piles,
how barely together
flying through space.
So we're going to do
all of that
and answer questions
we haven't even thought of yet.
Dante's team
will invent the question
for the future
from what they do
with these samples.
Fantastic.
I think we have time
for one more.
Let's let's take a look
at horrors of coding.
Is there any worry of possible
bacteria or virus
from the sample,
regardless of the clean room?
So that's a very good question.
And of course, the team
and you heard
from Jason Dworkin
and others have been thinking
about that for a long time.
We think these types
of asteroids
and the materials from them
are not life bearing
and they're not life bearing.
And so we have classified
this mission
as a certain class
of planetary protection.
So we're not expecting any true
life bearing
biological elements to be part.
But the fragments
of organic chemistry, carbon
bearing stuff
that you heard Danny
Glavin talk about,
the building blocks of life,
the got it all started
and all the places
it is here,
but also maybe elsewhere,
really important.
So we don't expect
to see any of that.
We've contained
the contamination.
You see what's going on now
in the portable clean room
and at Eileen's place
back in Johnson Space Center.
So we're very optimistic.
We're not no worries
about that stuff.
We're good here.
So I think we talked about this
a little bit.
But I think one thing
people are maybe wondering
or even maybe
a little worried about is
could the
sample contaminate Earth?
Are we at risk of something
catastrophic, literally
so vanishingly small
that no one would
rightfully bet on anything,
that this is space,
rock and dust
from a time so far ago
that's been
baked in the space radiation.
That wouldn't be good
for anything organic,
any living thing.
Sorry, we're all organic.
And so we it's been sterilized
by being in space.
In effect,
we do the same thing
when we go and sterilize stuff
that we'll bring back
from planets like Mars. So
how long is this next
process going to take?
You know,
we've got
we're in the clean room now.
We're going to go to Texas.
How long is this
all going to take before
we start getting some results?
So in the next few weeks
and next couple of weeks,
by October 11th,
we expect the team in Houston,
Eileen's team
went together with Dante's
team will have done that first,
the first proper
containment
and and
understanding all the possible
sources of contamination
so they can document
those for the future
and also make sure they're
through all those dates
that Eileen was mentioning.
So the samples are protected
from anything from Earth,
so they won't be contaminated.
Then they'll do some
first characterization
with all these great machines
they have in Houston.
And we'll start talking
about what they get
by the end of October
going into the Christmas time.
And by the end of January,
I've been told
the science team meeting,
the sample leaders
will start reporting
to all of us what's going on.
Wow, that is soon.
And you heard that
unboxing day is October 11th.
That I guess right
will be a Christmas party
for Sam.
Oh, okay. That's right.
So, Jim, I'm
struck by how
these last few minutes
compared to the last few years,
you know, here
we just saw
human hands willing,
precious, precious scientific,
you know, cargo
at walking speed
when just a few hours ago,
it was barreling through
Earth's atmosphere. Exactly.
We went from cosmic velocity
to velocity,
smaller than an ant would use
to crawl across the table
to pick up a crumb.
And so
that's the speed of science
to get it.
The engineering
flies, cosmic
velocity sampling,
all that great dynamics.
And finally,
now the careful,
methodical
snail's pace
to get it done right.
So we preserve it.
I mean, this is like
geo archeology of samples
from a place that's not earth.
Very special. Yeah, absolutely.
The sample return
capsule isn't done
traveling, of course,
once it gets stabilized on
what's called a nitrogen purge
to ensure everything
remains dry and uncooked
and contaminated
by intrusive gases,
the entire apparatus
will be loaded
aboard a C-17
cargo plane
for a flight on its way
home to Johnson Space Center.
Once it arrives,
scientists are ready to start
working on vital
research on this.
It's stored
and re sample
of the asteroid BENNU.
But that airplane ride
and the research plans
waiting for it
on the other side
starts tomorrow.
For now, the Osiris-rex
sample return capsule
has completed its solo journey
of nearly 4 billion miles,
landing in the Utah desert
and is now in the expert
care of our
onsite sample curation team.
But we're not out
of the woods yet.
We did mention this
nitrogen purge. That's right.
So we have to
carefully contain this
so we can do that work
and literally really transform
knowledge for all time.
This is the thing
that we dream of.
And with Dante and his team
ten years ago,
we're thinking of that
transformational knowledge.
It'll change how
we think of ourselves.
And we couldn't let you.
We couldn't let you go
before we share something fun.
So we just delivered a sample
of the asteroid
Bennu back to Earth. But
the UPS can also deliver
funds
from stamps of the actual
asteroid BENNU
So let me turn that over
so you can see it on this side.
How fun is that?
So we have brought an asteroid
first class delivery
from Osiris-rex to Earth
and our postal service
here in the United States
issuing
to build on that inspiration
so they can deliver
our packages for us.
How exciting.
And everybody
needs to get some.
These are really good.
I want one.
I would like one too,
as we're wrapping coverage
here at the Utah Test
and Training range,
let me remind you
that this is not
the end of the story.
Next up is our POST-LANDING
news conference
scheduled for 3 p.m.
Mountain Time, 5 p.m.
Eastern Time on NASA TV,
presented live
right here on nasa.gov
and other streaming sites.
You can also find mission
updates on X at NASA
and on the web at nasa.gov.
That's all the time
we have for today.
Jim, it has been a pleasure
sharing the stage with you.
We did it together.
Thank you for having me.
And a huge thank you to all
of our guests
for joining us today.
And a warm
thanks to all of you out there
for watching us.
Here are some highlights
from today's exciting landing
special coverage of America's
first asteroid sample
return mission
osiris-rex as it arrives
back to Earth
after more than seven years,
probably space
will see detailed
milestones have been confirmed
portions of time. Wow.
And after an exhilarating
streak across
Earth's atmosphere,
we have parachute deployment.
You can see
just a sigh of relief
from the team.
I can hear some applause here.
Disconnecting from the action
will then actually unwrap
all of the thermal blanketing
once we actually get it
into the clean room here.
The recovery operations,
that's our season.
The president
and all gear has been
stowed in the helicopter.