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OSIRIS-REx Curation: The First Year with Bennu Samples on EarthThe OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) sample return capsule landed on the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) on September 24, 2023. Preparations for the curation of the sample from asteroid Bennu inside of this capsule spanned more than a decade. On the morning of landing, the sample return capsule was brought to a temporary cleanroom at UTTR for initial de-integration and connection of the sample canister to a nitrogen gas purge to protect the sample from modification by the terrestrial atmosphere. In the week following landing, the sample canister was flown to Houston while on nitrogen purge, transferred to a nitrogen atmosphere glovebox at NASA Johnson Space Center in which the canister lid was removed revealing small amounts of sample on the inside of the canister lid and avionics deck, some of this sample was allocated rapidly to the mission sample analysis team as “quick look” samples. Next, the Touch-and-Go sample acquisition mechanism (TAGSAM) head was disassembled inside of a specially designed glovebox. A challenge arose during one of the last stages of disassembly when two fasteners resisted being loosened. The curation team was able to remove 70.3 grams of asteroid sample from the TAGSAM head with those fasteners in-place and began initial sample processing which supported long-term curation of hermetically sealed and frozen samples, transfer of some samples to remote storage, and allocation of aggregate samples to the mission sample analysis team. Meanwhile, curation engineers developed a tool to remove the stubborn fasteners without contaminating the remaining sample, enabling the remaining bulk sample to be transferred to long-term storage trays in January 2024. With this second part of the bulk sample, the returned bulk asteroid sample reached 121.6 grams. During disassembly and prior to sealing the bulk sample trays into long-term storage containers, archival photographs were collected. Select particles are gradually being XCT scanned while inside of containers that hold a nitrogen atmosphere. The initial OSIRIS-REx sample catalog was released in spring 2024 with an update in fall 2024. The curation team will be busy working to allocate samples to scientists around the world for the foreseeable future.
Document ID
20240010710
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Abstract
Authors
Nicole G Lunning
(Johnson Space Center Houston, United States)
Christopher Jorge Snead
(Johnson Space Center Houston, United States)
Rachel Comstock Funk
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Melissa Raquel Rodriguez
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Maritza Montoya
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Julia Lynn Plummer
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Erika H Blumenfeld
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Joseph Embry Aebersold
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Scott Allan Eckley
(Johnson Space Center Houston, United States)
Curtis David Calva
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Carla Patricia Gonzalez
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Jannatul Ferdous
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Kimberly Karlotta Allums-spencer
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Salvador Martinez
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Neftali Hernandez Gomez
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Gabriel Lugo
(Jacobs (United States) Dallas, Texas, United States)
Kevin Righter
(Johnson Space Center Houston, United States)
Eve Lynn Berger
(Johnson Space Center Houston, United States)
Aaron B Regberg
(Johnson Space Center Houston, United States)
Francis M Mccubbin
(Johnson Space Center Houston, United States)
Jemma Davidson
(Johnson Space Center Houston, United States)
Kathleen Elyse Vander Kaaden
(Bette Siegel (NASA HQ/CQ) NASA HQ/CQ)
Sara S Russell ORCID
(Natural History Museum of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah, United States)
Jason Peter Dworkin
(Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, United States)
Timothy Mccoy
(National Museum of Natural History Washington, United States)
Harold C Connolly, Jr ORCID
(University of Arizona Tucson, United States)
Anjani T Polit
(University of Arizona Tucson, United States)
Dante Salvatore Lauretta
(University of Arizona Tucson, United States)
Date Acquired
August 17, 2024
Subject Category
Geophysics
Meeting Information
Meeting: American Geophysical Union (AGU) Annual Meeting
Location: Washington, DC
Country: US
Start Date: December 9, 2024
End Date: December 13, 2024
Sponsors: American Geophysical Union
Funding Number(s)
WBS: 828928.07.02.05
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80JSC022DA035
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Use by or on behalf of the US Gov. Permitted.
Technical Review
Single Expert
Keywords
Curation
Astromaterials

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