NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft performed a touch-and-go maneuver on October 20th of this year and NASA has conformed that the probe did collect the expected 60 grams of asteroid material.
The spacecraft took off from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41 on September 8, 2016. On December 3, 2018, NASA confirmed that OSIRIS-REx had reached and matched the velocity of Bennu, the asteroid.
It entered into a orbit 1.75km above the surface and started extensively mapping the surface and looking for suitable places to gather samples.
During the touch-and-go procedure (video below), several larger rocks got caught in the collector’s lid so it did not close properly. NASA was hoping to perform tests to measure the exact weight of the material, but they have cancelled that to preserve what material they have already collected.
OSIRIS-REx is expected to land to return to Earth with the samples on September 24, 2023 at the U.S. Air Force’s Utah Test and Training Range.
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