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Osiris-Rex returns - 6th October 2023

Osiris-Rex went into space seven years ago. It returned with dust from the asteroid, Bennu. This asteroid dust is important.

"And touchdown of the Osiris-Rex sample return capsule. A journey of a billion miles to asteroid Bennu and back has come to an end."

There’s 250 grams of dust. Scientists are excited. Dante Lauretta wants to start studying the asteroid’s dust soon.

Dante Lauretta: "So we think we've got a lot of sample in that, in that science canister and we can't wait to, to crack into it. For me, the real science is just beginning."

The dust is useful. It can help scientists understand the solar system. It’ll help them understand how life started on Earth. They’re keeping it safe.

Dante Lauretta: "The key objective for me and one of the driving objectives of this programme, is to try to understand that carbon rich asteroids, like Bennu, deliver the compounds that may have led to the origin of life on our planet. The origin of Earth is a habitable world. And so, we don't want biological organisms interacting with this. So, we plan to exclude it from any contact with bacteria or anything else that might compromise our scientific investigation."

The asteroid Bennu is a big rock. It’s travelling towards Earth. It could hit the planet in 100 years. Scientists can study the asteroid dust. They can use this information to save Earth. They can plan how to push Bennu away from Earth.

Scientists will save 70 percent of the asteroid dust for future scientists. They can continue studying it with new technology.

Lauretta’s happy with Osiris-Rex’s successful return.

Dante Lauretta: "And then, we heard 'main chute detected', and I literally broke into tears. I mean, and I'm probably gonna do it right now just thinking about it, because that was the moment I knew we made it home. And you know, I'm weary at this point. I've been thinking about this and focusing on it and all of my energy and all my will has gone into making this thing a success. And I knew the moment the chute opened, that was it. We knew what to do from that point forward. There was no surprises left. And it was overwhelming relief, gratitude, pride, awe."