Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx)

OSIRIS-Rex was the first American mission to retrieve samples from an asteroid.  It successfully gathered surface materials from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu in 2020 and then returned them to Earth on Sept 24, 2023 by dropping a Sample Return Capsule (SRC) into the atmosphere.  This SRC withstood a fiery reentry that was hotter than the Apollo lunar missions, then deployed two parachutes to land in northwest Utah at a DOD training range.  The main spacecraft, now renamed OSIRIS-APEX continued on, back into solar orbit on a new 7 year mission to observe another near-Earth asteroid Apophis.

The spacecraft and SRC were both designed and built here in Littleton Colorado at the Lockheed-Martin plant at Waterton Canyon, home to many prior Mars and deep space spacecraft. Bill Willcockson was one of the principal designers of the OSIRIS-REx SRC, his last spacecraft mission, before retiring in 2018 following a career spanning more than 40 years.