Samples from the "Doomsday Asteroid" Return to Earth This Week

This is the final stage of the mission that began in 2016.

Less than a week remains until the grand landing of NASA's OSIRIS-REx capsule, scheduled for September 24. This small spacecraft will deliver samples of soil from the asteroid Bennu, which is also known as the "doomsday asteroid," back to Earth for the first time.

This landing will mark the completion of the seven-year OSIRIS-REx mission, which began with the launch in 2016 and the collection of samples from Bennu in October 2020.

On September 24, the spacecraft will pass through Earth's atmosphere, protected by a heat shield, reaching speeds of over 43,000 km/h before deploying its braking and main parachutes to slow down to a more manageable speed of 16 km/h.

Bennu is referred to as the "doomsday asteroid" due to its massive size (525 meters), uncertain nature, and proximity to Earth. The OSIRIS-REx probe, which collected soil samples and took several photos, almost failed to take off from it. The surface of the celestial body turned out to be very loose, nearly engulfing the spacecraft. NASA suggests that such soft asteroids pose a much greater threat to Earth than solid ones.