NASA has integrated Chemring components onto its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft for the first-ever mission to return a sample from the ancient asteroid Bennu. Up to almost two kilograms of asteroid sample will be brought back to Earth, the largest amount of extra-terrestrial material brought back from space since the Apollo era.*
This mission will help scientists investigate how planets are formed and how life began and improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth. OSIRIS-Rex launched from the Atlas V 411 Rocket on September 8th 2016, on a seven-year mission, successfully rendezvousing with Bennu in 2018. The spacecraft carried out two rehearsals preparing for the sampling procedure, which successfully took place on 20th October 2020. After verifying the sample, OSIRIS-Rex will leave Bennu and return the samples to Earth.
Chemring components will be crucial to the successful landing of the spacecraft and the samples' safe delivery. Just before re-entering Earth's atmosphere, the Sample Return Capsule will separate from the Spacecraft Body, and this separation will require the use of two Chemring cable cutters.
Back at home, the sample will be curated at NASA's Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate (ARES) and Japan's Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center, and sample material from the asteroid will be distributed to requesting organisations around the world.
*NASA Ten Things to Know About Bennu (nasa.gov)