DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, Utah - August was a busy month for the NASA team as they prepare for the return of a sample from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. The sample will touch down in the West Desert on the morning of September 24th inside a capsule launched from the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx). After the capsule leaves the craft, it will parachute down somewhere near the border of Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) and the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR).
In August, NASA held a dress rehearsal for tracking cameras that will help teams find and recover the capsule. The OSIRIS-REx team plans to broadcast the recovery live on their website, NASA.gov, and have been putting their broadcast equipment to the test.
On August 30th, a capsule drop test was performed where a helicopter took a replica of the capsule to an altitude of 5000 ft and dropped it onto the ground inside the UTTR. Since the capsule has no GPS or beacon, the test utilized the tracking sensors on the ground which will be an essential part of the sample recovery. These tests also give recovery crews a good idea of what they will experience on September 24th.
In the event of inclement weather, NASA still plans to release the capsule. If the sample is not released on September 24th, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft would not be in position to deliver the capsule for another 2 years.
A large group of media representatives from local, national, and international outlets attended a tour of some of the facilities and areas to be utilized for the mission. During this time, they were given details about the Dugway mission and how every part of the DPG community generates readiness for America’s warfighters.
DPG is proud to team up with NASA and UTTR in order to facilitate this historic scientific mission. The September landing will mark the end of a 7-year journey, and the beginning of a decades long study of the asteroid sample by scientists to investigate planet formation and the origin of organics that may have led to life on Earth.
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