tag_beauty_shot.png NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descends toward the rocky surface of asteroid Bennu in this artist’s concept. Asteroids like Bennu contain natural resources such as water, organics, and precious metals. In the future, these asteroids may one day fuel the exploration of the solar system by robotic and crewed spacecraft. Credits: Credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission will deliver the agency’s first asteroid sample collected in space to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023. Media interested in covering the landing, as well as mission activities leading up to and following the return, are invited to register for access.

NASA also will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Monday, June 26, to answer questions about logistics for covering the landing. Audio of the media call will stream live on the agency’s website:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

To join the logistics call on June 26, media must send their full name, media affiliation, email address, and phone number no later than two hours before the start of the call to Alana Johnson at: alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.

As OSIRIS-REx flies by Earth, it will release its sample return capsule into the atmosphere. The capsule will descend under parachute and land within a 250-square-mile area at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range, about 80 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, near the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground.

In the remaining months before the return, the OSIRIS-REx team is rehearsing and refining procedures to recover the sample, which dates from the early formation of our solar system, while protecting it from contaminants.

To ensure the safety of those attending – as well as that of OSIRIS-REx’s sample – physical access is restricted. Media must preregister for consideration to participate in related mission activities.

The following schedules and programming are subject to change, and NASA will update this advisory online as needed.

Thursday, July 20 – Clean Room Tour, Practice Capsule Viewing

Media, particularly those local to the area, are invited to the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground in Utah to meet OSIRIS-REx mission team members and learn more about NASA activity in the local area. The mission team will walk through landing and recovery and take questions. Lead scientists and project managers will be available for interviews. Activities include:

• Tour of clean room facilities
• Practice capsule viewing
• Interviews with recovery team

The U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground is about 80 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Media interested in covering this event must register online by June 30.

Monday, July 24 – Curation Lab Media Day

NASA will host a media day at the agency’s new OSIRIS-REx Sample Curation Lab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The curation team will showcase the laboratories and a lead scientist will be available for interviews.

U.S. media interested in attending must apply by 5 p.m. CDT (4 p.m. EDT) on Friday, July 7, and international media must apply by 5 p.m. CDT  (4 p.m. CDT) on Friday, June 30, by emailing jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.

Wednesday, Aug. 30 – Capsule Return Rehearsal

Media are invited to the capsule return rehearsal at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. From 5,000 feet in altitude, a helicopter will drop a replica of OSIRIS-REx’s sample return capsule in the middle of the 250-square-mile landing ellipse located inside the military’s Utah Test and Training Range. The mission team will test tracking cameras and radar and practice recovery operations.

This rehearsal includes an opportunity to film and photograph the drop test, parachute deployment, and recovery of the capsule.

U.S. media interested in attending must register online by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 11, and international media must register online by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 14.

Wednesday, Aug. 30 – Pre-landing News Conference

NASA will host a pre-landing news conference from the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground. The news conference also will air on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

U.S. media interested in attending must register online by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 11, and international media must register online by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 14.

Friday, Sept. 22 – NASA Remote Interviews

NASA will offer live and taped interviews with members of the mission team and subject matter experts. Interviews will be conducted remotely using video chat programs, primarily Zoom, in nine-minute time slots, offered from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT.

All media interested in arranging interviews must register online by 3 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 20.

Friday, Sept. 22 – U.S. Postal Service’s OSIRIS-REx 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. The Postal Service will provide registration instructions toward the end of August.

Friday, Sept. 22 – Pre-landing News Conference and Photo Opportunity of Recovery Operations

NASA will host a pre-landing news conference from the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground. This news conference includes an opportunity to film and photograph a replica sample capsule, recovery helicopters, and the landing site.

U.S. media interested in attending must register online by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 11, and international media must register online by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 14.

Sunday, Sept. 24 – OSIRIS-REx Sample Capsule Landing

NASA’s Live coverage of the capsule landing starts at 8 a.m. MDT, (10 a.m. EDT) and will air on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Photos and B-roll will be available to all media.

Media attending in person at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground will be able to interview the mission team involved with landing, recovery operations, and processing of the asteroid sample. A post-landing briefing will occur about 90 minutes after the sample capsule arrives.

Media will also have the opportunity to cover departure of the sample when it is flown to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Sept. 25.

U.S. media interested in attending must register online by 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, Aug. 13, and international media must register online by 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, July 16.

Wednesday, Oct. 11 – OSIRIS-REx NASA Social

NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will host social media users for an “OSIRIS-REx Sample Reveal” event featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the agency’s world-class astromaterials laboratories.

NASA Social participants will have the opportunity to:

• Meet an Artemis astronaut
• Tour NASA facilities at Johnson Space Center
• Meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media
• Meet and interact with OSIRIS-REx subject matter experts

NASA Social registration opens on Sept. 25, and the deadline to apply is at noon EDT on Friday, Sept. 29. All social applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Wednesday, Oct. 11 – OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Bennu Sample Reveal Event

Media are invited to participate in a news conference and media day when the first samples collected from the asteroid Bennu are revealed at NASA's OSIRIS-REx Curation Laboratory, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

U.S. media interested in attending must apply by 5 p.m. CDT (4 p.m. EDT) on Friday, Oct. 6, and international media must apply by 5 p.m. CDT (4 p.m. CDT) on Friday, Sept.  29, by emailing jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.

Thursday, Oct. 12 – OSIRIS-REx Mission Personnel Available for Interviews

Media will have the opportunity to interview OSIRIS-REx mission personnel and staff from the Curation Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Media interested in participating must apply by 5 p.m. CDT (4 p.m. EDT) on Wednesday, Oct. 11 to jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.

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, provides flight operations and operations, and is responsible for capsule recovery. 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.

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, D.C.

-end-

Press Contacts

Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1275 / 202-358-1501
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov⁠

Rani Gran / Rob Garner
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-332-6975 / 301-286-5687
rani.c.gran@nasa.gov / rob.garner@nasa.gov

Shaneequa Vereen
NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
shaneequa.y.vereen@nasa.gov

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