The NASA probe “Osiris-Rex” is scheduled to drop a sample from the asteroid Bennu over the desert of the US state of Utah on Sunday. According to NASA estimates, the capsule contains around 250 grams of rubble that was collected from the celestial body around three years ago. It will be dropped around 102,000 kilometers above the earth, land with the help of parachutes at around 4:55 p.m. CEST and later be taken to NASA laboratories in the US state of Texas for examinations.
Meanwhile, “Osiris-Rex” is said to be on its way to the next asteroid, Apophis. The mission had already been extended for at least nine years. “Osiris Rex” (the abbreviation stands for: Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) was launched from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in September 2016 and arrived at Bennu around two years later. In October 2020, the probe took a sample from the asteroid in a complicated maneuver lasting several hours – the first US missile in space history.
