OSIRIS-REx Rehearsal in the Utah Desert - Nasa daily picture for July 21 (2023)

In preparation for the retrieval of the sample return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, recovery teams tour the projected landing ellipse in the Utah desert on July 17, 2023. The sample, collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, will return to Earth on September 24, 2023. The rocks and dust collected from the asteroid will offer scientists a window into the time when the Sun and planets were forming about 4.5 billion years ago.

The team has rehearsed portions of the recovery operation many times this year, but this was the most realistic rehearsal yet. See highlights from the rehearsal on the OSIRIS-REx blog.

Image Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

Source: www.nasa.gov