EVALUATION OF OSIRIS-REx CONTACT PAD SAMPLERS FOR BENNU SURFACE REGOLITH PARTICLES.

NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission returned material from asteroid Bennu to Earth in September 2023. In addition to the bulk sample (>70 g), OSIRIS-REx’s Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) also collected material from Bennu using surface particle collectors or contact pads. The TAGSAM head has 24 of these circular contact pads evenly distributed around the perimeter, each ~1.75 cm in diameter and consisting of stainless-steel Velcro-like loops. From their positions on the bottom of the TAGSAM head, the contact pads were intended to collect regolith material from the very surface of Bennu by trapping fine particles (<5 mm) in the Velcro. The science team would then be able to examine individual particles for evidence of surface exposure, particularly the microstructural, chemical, and spectral characteristics of space weathering. Here we present an evaluation of the OSIRIS-REx contact pads and the material they returned from Bennu.