sample return
China Plans to Retrieve Mars Samples by 2031
China's growing presence in space has been undeniable since the turn of the century. Between sending the first "taikonaut" to…
OKEANOS – A Mission That Would Have Retrurned Samples From the Trojan Asteroids
Getting a mission to the point of officially being accepted for launch is an ordeal. However, even when they aren't…
OSIRIS-REx’s Final Haul: 121.6 Grams from Asteroid Bennu
After several months of meticulous, careful work, NASA has the final total for their haul of asteroidal material from the…
Finally, Let’s Look at the Asteroid Treasure Returned to Earth by OSIRIS-REx
NASA's OSIRIS-REx delivered its precious cargo to Earth on September 24th, 2023. The sample from asteroid Bennu is contained inside…
OSIRIS-REx Failed to Deploy its Drogue Chute Properly. Now NASA has Figured out Why
On September 24, 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returned a precious sample of rocky material from asteroid Bennu to Earth. The…
OSIRIS-REx Would Have Sunk Deep into Asteroid Bennu if it Tried to Land
A pair of studies published in Science and Science Advances have helped identify that NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource…
Perseverance is Searching for the Perfect Landing Spot for the Upcoming Sample Return Mission
NASA’s car-sized Perseverance (Percy) Mars rover has been had at work carrying out its science campaign in Jezero Crater on…
Asteroid Ryugu Might Actually Be a Dead Comet
In 2014, the Japanese Space Agency JAXA launched the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft to visit asteroid Ryugu. It arrived at the…
Chang’e-5 Returned an Exotic Collection of Moon Rocks
Scientists have begun studying the samples returned from the Moon by China’s Chang’e-5 mission in December 2020, and a group…
Perseverance is About to Collect the First Sample on Mars That Could Eventually be Returned to Earth
Mission controllers at NASA are making final preparations for the Perseverance rover to obtain its first sample of Martian rock,…