A historic event will take place today: the American probe OSIRIS-Rex, launched 7 years ago, will drop a capsule containing soil samples from the asteroid Bennu as it passes by the Earth. There is approximately 250 grams of soil in the capsule, and the capsule is expected to land in the Utah desert near Salt Lake City at 17.55 Moscow time.

The probe will drop the capsule from an altitude of approximately 102,000 km. Of course, the capsule will get very hot as it enters the atmosphere, so a thermal shield was created for this – it is made of carbon fiber and has ablation protection.

After getting very close to the Earth’s surface, a small braking parachute will open, and 7 minutes after that, the main parachute will open. The relatively soft soil in the Utah desert should soften the blow. After that, NASA employees will take the container and examine the samples.

Oleksandr Rodin, head of the applied infrared spectroscopy laboratory at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, believes that samples taken from Bennu will help scientists study the diversity of asteroids in the Solar System. The Russian researcher believes that missions to study small celestial bodies are of greater applied importance than studies of the Moon or Mars.

As a reminder, OSIRIS-Rex was launched in 2016, and the probe reached the asteroid in December 2018. The probe remained in orbit around Bennu for two years, and in October 2020, the spacecraft approached the surface of the asteroid and took samples of the soil with the help of a manipulator arm.