On September 30, NASA formally ended OSIRIS-REx, the first US mission to grab a piece of an asteroid and bring it home.
The highlights
- It sampled Bennu, a rock holding leftovers from the dawn of the solar system, including raw organic building blocks.
- It delivered the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space.
- It took two NASA rejections before the $1 billion mission got the green light in 2011, then launched Sept. 8, 2016.
- PI Dante Lauretta: “I feel enormous pride in what we accomplished together, and real sadness that this journey has come to an end.”
My take
A decade of close calls and it delivered. Well done, team.
Have a blessed day! And Happy Hacking!
