1
00:00:00,717 --> 00:00:04,771
OSIRIS-REx continues the amazing legacy
of exploring the solar system

2
00:00:04,771 --> 00:00:06,239
through sample return.

3
00:00:06,239 --> 00:00:09,509
We started out with the Apollo missions,
where we had astronauts

4
00:00:09,509 --> 00:00:13,580
on the surface of the Moon, collecting
a wide range of materials which provided

5
00:00:13,580 --> 00:00:17,634
unprecedented insights into the formation
of our closest neighbor in space.

6
00:00:18,318 --> 00:00:21,871
We've seen comet
dust returned from the Stardust mission

7
00:00:22,172 --> 00:00:25,592
and asteroid particles
returned by two Japanese missions,

8
00:00:25,592 --> 00:00:29,629
Hayabusa and Hayabusa2,
and OSIRIS-REx goes beyond

9
00:00:29,629 --> 00:00:33,033
those other missions, especially Stardust
and the Hayabusa programs,

10
00:00:33,233 --> 00:00:37,020
by bringing back a lot of sample.
We're bringing back, we estimate,

11
00:00:37,020 --> 00:00:40,940
about 250 grams of material,
about the size of a coffee cup

12
00:00:40,940 --> 00:00:44,310
full of this precious, pristine,
carbonaceous asteroid

13
00:00:44,310 --> 00:00:45,328
sample.

14
00:00:47,547 --> 00:00:50,517
The OSIRIS-REx  spacecraft
is currently on its way

15
00:00:50,517 --> 00:00:55,171
back to Earth right now.
On September 24th, 2023,

16
00:00:55,488 --> 00:00:58,408
it will release the sample return capsule

17
00:00:58,408 --> 00:01:01,227
and that will land in the Utah desert.

18
00:01:01,578 --> 00:01:05,482
We will go out into the field,
get the sample,

19
00:01:05,698 --> 00:01:09,269
take some soil samples and air samples
for contamination

20
00:01:09,269 --> 00:01:12,355
knowledge,
and then bring the sample return capsule

21
00:01:12,589 --> 00:01:16,793
to a temporary cleanroom
at the Utah Test and Training Range.

22
00:01:16,893 --> 00:01:18,528
There, we will actually take off the heat

23
00:01:18,528 --> 00:01:21,030
shield and backshell
and some other components for safety.

24
00:01:21,030 --> 00:01:23,666
And inside of
that is what we call a sample canister.

25
00:01:23,817 --> 00:01:25,885
Sample return
capsule is kind of like a nesting doll,

26
00:01:25,885 --> 00:01:27,570
we have these
multiple layers of protection.

27
00:01:28,638 --> 00:01:30,807
And then that sample canister

28
00:01:30,807 --> 00:01:34,461
will have a nitrogen flow
put on it, what we call a nitrogen purge.

29
00:01:34,727 --> 00:01:37,464
And with that nitrogen purge,
to protect the sample, to keep

30
00:01:37,464 --> 00:01:40,550
any incursion of terrestrial atmosphere
coming into that canister,

31
00:01:40,550 --> 00:01:43,853
it will be flown from Utah here
to Houston, Texas.

32
00:01:44,304 --> 00:01:48,808
The Astromaterials curators at NASA
Johnson are the best in the world.

33
00:01:48,842 --> 00:01:51,678
They are fantastic at preserving material.

34
00:01:51,895 --> 00:01:55,982
The samples will be in a special custom-
built cleanroom.

35
00:01:56,099 --> 00:02:00,587
The samples themselves will be inside of a
of a nitrogen filled glovebox, and

36
00:02:00,587 --> 00:02:04,307
then inside of that, they'll be stored
in separate containers for allocation.

37
00:02:04,607 --> 00:02:08,011
The first samples will come out
for the science team to

38
00:02:08,578 --> 00:02:12,232
describe what we've seen and produce
a catalog within six months

39
00:02:12,232 --> 00:02:15,118
so that researchers around the world
can write their own proposals

40
00:02:15,351 --> 00:02:16,169
to request sample.

41
00:02:18,471 --> 00:02:19,139
Oh, I am going

42
00:02:19,139 --> 00:02:22,342
to be so excited to see that sample

43
00:02:22,342 --> 00:02:26,462
and see how much we actually brought back
from asteroid Bennu.

44
00:02:26,479 --> 00:02:30,049
It's been a really exciting journey
from launch

45
00:02:30,049 --> 00:02:31,501
back to sample return.

46
00:02:31,501 --> 00:02:35,638
That's a seven year journey,
seven year process, and at that time

47
00:02:35,939 --> 00:02:39,175
I will have been on the mission
for about seven years.

48
00:02:39,475 --> 00:02:42,829
And so it's going to be
a wonderful culmination

49
00:02:42,829 --> 00:02:45,348
to this adventure of OSIRIS-REx.

50
00:02:45,949 --> 00:02:49,619
I joined OSIRIS-REx  and became
part of the mission about three years ago.

51
00:02:49,802 --> 00:02:53,006
It's been really incredible for me
because I watched this

52
00:02:53,006 --> 00:02:56,176
mission launch on my cell phone
when I was a postdoc.

53
00:02:56,192 --> 00:02:59,262
I heard about it
get selected before I applied for my Ph.D.

54
00:02:59,312 --> 00:03:01,281
program, and I remember thinking like, oh,

55
00:03:01,281 --> 00:03:03,199
you know, 12 years
it's going to come back.

56
00:03:03,199 --> 00:03:04,367
I wonder where I'll be?

57
00:03:04,367 --> 00:03:07,337
And it's so amazing to be here
and be part of it, playing

58
00:03:07,337 --> 00:03:11,941
what feels like to me a very important
role in it is really incredible.

59
00:03:13,443 --> 00:03:14,244
I've been waiting

60
00:03:14,244 --> 00:03:17,030
since 2004 for an asteroid sample return
mission.

61
00:03:17,447 --> 00:03:21,050
It's been the majority of my career
getting ready for sample return.

62
00:03:21,301 --> 00:03:23,820
In some ways,
a blink of an eye since launch happened.

63
00:03:23,987 --> 00:03:27,390
In other ways, it's been a very long time
waiting for this

64
00:03:27,557 --> 00:03:29,008
precious sample to come back.

65
00:03:29,008 --> 00:03:34,347
It's going to be an emotional, joyous,
gut-wrenching event all at the same time.

66
00:03:34,697 --> 00:03:36,499
I can't wait.

67
00:03:36,499 --> 00:03:39,552
[Music]

68
00:03:39,552 --> 00:03:46,509
[Music fades]