(AGENPARL) – lun 18 settembre 2023 September 18, 2023 
MEDIA ADVISORY M23-120
*NASA Finalizes Coverage for First US Asteroid Sample Landing*
osiris_rex_training_model.jpg
A training model of the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule is seen during a
drop test on Aug. 30, 2023, at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and
Training Range in preparation for the retrieval of the actual capsule on
Sept. 24.
*/Credits: NASA/Keegan Barber/*
The first asteroid sample collected in space by NASA will arrive on Earth
Sunday, Sept. 24, and there are multiple events leading up to its landing.
NASA’s live coverage of the OSIRIS-REx [1] (Origins, Spectral
Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer)
capsule landing starts at 10 a.m. EDT (8 a.m. MDT) and will air on NASA TV,
the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Watch online at:
https://www.nasa.gov/live [2]
In addition to the English broadcast, NASA will stream coverage of the
landing beginning at 10 a.m. EDT (8 a.m. MDT) in Spanish on X [3], Facebook
[4], and YouTube [5].
*Postlanding news conference*
A post-landing news conference will occur about 5 p.m. EDT (3 p.m. MDT), when
the sample capsule arrives at a temporary clean room on the military range.
Coverage will air on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website [6].
To submit questions during the briefing, media must send their full name,
affiliation, email address, and phone number no later than two hours before
*Prelanding media call*
Prior to landing, the agency also will host a media call to provide a status
update at 3 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. MDT) on Friday, Sept. 22.
To successfully deliver a sample from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu,
spacecraft operators need to ensure OSIRIS-REx travels at the right speed and
direction to release the sample capsule into the atmosphere, landing it on
the U.S. Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. Mission
leadership will discuss the results of the spacecraft’s final trajectory
maneuvers, and expectations for the capsule’s entry, descent, and landing,
and plans for recovery operations in Utah’s western desert.
Audio of the call will stream live on NASA’s website [8].
Participants include:
* Lori Glaze, director, Planetary Sciences Division, NASA Headquarters,
Washington
* Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
* Sandra Freund, OSIRIS-REx program manager, Lockheed Martin
* Nicole Lunning, OSIRIS-REx curation lead, NASA’s Johnson Space Center,
Houston
* Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator, University of Arizona
To participate in the teleconference, members of the media must send their
full name, affiliation, email address, and phone number no later than two
hours before the start of the call to Alana Johnson at
*Two more OSIRIS-REx activities happening Sept. 22 include:*
* *Remote interviews: *NASA will offer live and taped interviews to
reporters with members of the OSIRIS-REx team and subject matter experts.
Interviews will be conducted remotely using video chat programs, primarily
Zoom, in nine-minute time slots beginning at 6 a.m. EDT (4 a.m. MDT).
Media can request interviews [10] online.
* *Stamp first day of issue ceremony:* The U.S. Postal Service will hold a
first day of issue ceremony for a stamp featuring OSIRIS-REx at Clark
Planetarium in Salt Lake City at 11 a.m. MDT. The USPS news release [11]
provides more information about the event, which media are invited to
attend.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall
mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance
for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the
principal investigator. The university leads the science team and the
mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin
Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and provides flight
operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the
OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Curation for OSIRIS-REx, including processing the
sample when it arrives on Earth, will take place at NASA’s Johnson Space
Center in Houston. International partnerships on this mission include the
OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter instrument from CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and
asteroid sample science collaboration with JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency) Hayabusa2 mission.
OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s
Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
To learn more about the asteroid sample recovery mission visit:
*https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex* [12]
-end-
*Press Contacts*
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1275 / 202-358-1501
Rani Gran / Rob Garner
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-332-6975 / 301-286-5687
NASA news releases and other information are available automatically by
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[1] https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex
[2] https://www.nasa.gov/live
[6] https://www.nasa.gov/live
[8] http://www.nasa.gov/live
[12] https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex