The public is invited to a watch party at NASA’s Goddard Visitor Center, Greenbelt, Maryland to celebrate the first U.S. mission, OSIRIS-REx, to collect a sample from an asteroid and deliver it to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023.
Editor’s Note: This media advisory was updated Sept. 19, 2023, to include a link to the registration website for the event.
The public is invited to a watch party at NASA’s Goddard Visitor Center, Greenbelt, Maryland to celebrate the first U.S. mission, OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer), to collect a sample from an asteroid and deliver it to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023. NASA will broadcast and stream this milestone event live on NASA TV and social media starting at 10 a.m. EDT.
Registration is required for the event and will close once capacity is reached. Follow the link here to register.
As OSIRIS-REx flies by Earth, it will release its sample return capsule into the atmosphere. The capsule will descend under parachute and land at 10:55 a.m. EDT within a 250-square-mile area at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range, near the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground. OSIRIS-REx will deliver the largest asteroid sample received on Earth, estimated to hold about half a pound of Bennu’s material or 8.8 ounces +/- 3.6 ounces (250 grams +/- 101 grams).
Asteroid Bennu is a well preserved, 4.5-billion-year-old remnant of our solar system. Scientists believe a sample from the carbon-rich, near-Earth asteroid Bennu will help them learn more about how our solar system and planets evolved.
The agenda for the Goddard event is as follows:
- 9:30 a.m. Doors open
- 9:45 a.m. Welcome presentation
- 10:00 a.m. Live NASA TV broadcast begins
- 10:35 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. TV coverage as the sample return capsule arrives in Utah desert
- 1:00 p.m. NASA TV broadcast ends and closing remarks are given
During the watch party:
- Visitors will be able to see OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, instrument, and Bennu models and have questions answered by OSIRIS-REx scientists.
- Collect a sample from a model asteroid and land your own sample return capsule on a map of Utah.
For information on the Goddard Visitor Center, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/visitor/home/index.html
For more information about the OSIRIS-REx mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex
Nancy Neal Jones
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
nancy.n.jones@nasa.gov