/sci/ - Science & Math

https://spacenews.com/nasa-gears-up-for-return-of-osiris-rex-asteroid-sample/

> Teams conducted a dress rehearsal Aug. 30 of the recovery of the sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. In the test, a helicopter dropped a replica of the capsule from an altitude of more than 2,000 meters. The capsule descended under a parachute to land at the Utah Test and Training Range west of Salt Lake City, where personnel went through procedures to get the capsule ready for transport to NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

> The rehearsal was part of final planning for the return of the actual OSIRIS-REx capsule, which will arrive early Sept. 24. The capsule is carrying an estimated 250 grams of material from the asteroid Bennu that the spacecraft collected during a “touch-and-go” collection process in October 2020.

> The goal of the mission, whose full name is Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer, is to return those samples to Earth for analysis by scientists, who hope the material will offer new insights into the formation of the solar system.