21 Oct 2020

The public is encouraged to join a "Getting to Know Goddard" virtual session about NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Learn how OSIRIS-REx will descend to asteroid Bennu’s boulder-strewn surface, touch down for a few seconds and collect a sample of the asteroid’s rocks and dust – marking the first time NASA has grabbed pieces of an asteroid, which will be returned to Earth for study.

During this event, OSIRIS-REx’s sampling mechanism will touch Bennu’s surface for several seconds, fire a charge of pressurized nitrogen to disturb the surface and collect a sample before the spacecraft backs away. The spacecraft is scheduled to return the sample to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023.

On October 27, 2020 from 1 to 2 p.m. EDT, the public can virtually tune into a live “Getting to Know Goddard” session about the OSIRIS-REx Touch-And-Go sample collection event. The one-hour on-line event features Jason Dworkin, a Project Scientist for the OSIRIS-Rex mission and Amy Simon, an Instrument Scientist for OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer. Both are from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The session will be broadcast and available free to the public at:  https://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-gsfc.

When the sample comes back, it will be stored at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.