sample return
OSIRIS-REx Failed to Deploy its Drogue Chute Properly. Now NASA has Figured out Why
On September 24, 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returned a precious sample of rocky material from asteroid Bennu to Earth. The…
OSIRIS-REx Would Have Sunk Deep into Asteroid Bennu if it Tried to Land
A pair of studies published in Science and Science Advances have helped identify that NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource…
Perseverance is Searching for the Perfect Landing Spot for the Upcoming Sample Return Mission
NASA’s car-sized Perseverance (Percy) Mars rover has been had at work carrying out its science campaign in Jezero Crater on…
Asteroid Ryugu Might Actually Be a Dead Comet
In 2014, the Japanese Space Agency JAXA launched the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft to visit asteroid Ryugu. It arrived at the…
Chang’e-5 Returned an Exotic Collection of Moon Rocks
Scientists have begun studying the samples returned from the Moon by China’s Chang’e-5 mission in December 2020, and a group…
Perseverance is About to Collect the First Sample on Mars That Could Eventually be Returned to Earth
Mission controllers at NASA are making final preparations for the Perseverance rover to obtain its first sample of Martian rock,…
Apollo 17 Astronauts Brought Home Samples From the Oldest Impact Crater on the Moon
Internal geological processes on the moon are almost non-existent. However, when it gets smacked by a space rock, its surface…
JAXA Using Water Bottle Technology for Sample-Return Missions From the ISS
JAXA and the Tiger Corporation have come together to develop next-generation cooling containers that will allow for regular sample-returns from…
OSIRIS-REx Did One Last Close Flyby of Asteroid Bennu. It’s Almost Time to Come Home
After more than two years in orbit around asteroid Bennu, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is ready to come home. It's bringing…
What a Geologist Sees When They Look at Perseverance’s Landing Site
Geologists love fieldwork. They love getting their specialized hammers and chisels into seams in the rock, exposing unweathered surfaces and…