NASA Prepares for Historic Asteroid Sample Delivery Mission.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is preparing to drop off a sample from asteroid Bennu on September 24 during a flyby of Earth. The capsule containing the asteroid sample will parachute its way down to Earth and land at the Air Force’s Utah Test and Training Range in the Great Salt Lake Desert. Recovery teams in Utah and Colorado will be practicing all the steps required to recover the sample, rehearsing how to unpack and process the sample inside glove boxes before transporting it to the lab in Houston via helicopter. The recovery crews will also collect soil and air samples around the capsule’s landing area to help identify if any contaminants came in contact with the asteroid sample.