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This image of the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule still attached to the spacecraft鈥檚 instrument deck was captured by the spacecraft鈥檚 StowCam camera on Sept. 23 at 10:37:55 a.m. EDT (14:37:55 UTC), less than 24 hours before the capsule鈥檚 release.聽StowCam, a color imager, is one of three cameras comprising TAGCAMS (the Touch-and-Go Camera System), which is part of OSIRIS-REx鈥檚 guidance, navigation, and control system. TAGCAMS was designed, built, and tested by Malin Space Science Systems; Lockheed Martin integrated TAGCAMS to the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and operates TAGCAMS. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin
After years of anticipation and hard work by NASA's OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security鈥擱egolith Explorer) team, a capsule of rocks and dust collected from asteroid Bennu returned to Earth on Sept. 24 in a targeted area of the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City.
A few hours before the landing, OSIRIS-REx took some of its final views of its own sample return capsule.
This black-and-white sequence of OSIRIS-REx鈥檚 sample return capsule descent toward Earth comes from TAGCAMS鈥檚 NavCam 1 and was taken in the moments after the capsule鈥檚 release from the spacecraft on Sept. 24, 2023. The Sun is visible at the top of the frame, and a thin 鈥渃rescent Earth鈥� can be seen at the left edge of the image. OSIRIS-REx鈥檚 NavCams are used for optical navigation of the spacecraft. NavCam images tracked star-fields and landmarks on Bennu to determine the spacecraft鈥檚 position during mission operations. This sequence of images has been processed to remove most of the scattered sunlight, bring out more detail of the capsule and release debris cloud, and prevent the Earth crescent from saturating. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin
Following a flight aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft on Sept. 26, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule was taken into a customized clean room at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Meanwhile, the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft鈥攐n a new mission with a new name鈥攊s on a course toward asteroid Apophis, which it will reach in 2029.
Charred from its journey through Earth鈥檚 atmosphere, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule is shown here shortly following its landing on Sept. 24 in Utah鈥檚 Great Salt Lake Desert. Shortly after this photo was taken, the capsule was transported to a temporary clean room at the Department of Defense鈥檚 Utah Test and Training Range, and then flown on Sept. 26 to Houston and transported to NASA鈥檚 Johnson Space Center there. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber
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NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft views sample return capsule's departure (2023, October 4)
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