SALT LAKE CITY — A 7-year NASA mission will come to a close in the Utah desert Sunday when OSIRIS-REx returns to Earth.
The Dugway Proving Grounds was chosen as the landing site due the wide open space providing a large area to land a spacecraft that is bringing home an important asteroid sample.
As of Friday, OSIRIS-REx is high above Earth getting ever closer.
"I mean, we're running at it. It is very busy, but we are also very excited," said Nicole Lunning, OSIRIS-REx's lead sample curator.
Nearly three years after visiting asteroid Bennu to collect a sample, the mission will end.
"I think it wants us to study," said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator. "I think it wants us to unravel this mystery."
Launched on Sept. 8, 2016, the mission has been unlike any other. But for the question of where to land the spacecraft, officials turned to Utah.
The Utah Test and Training Range provides a 37x9 mile ellipse where OSIRIS-REx could land. The landing area is about 250 square miles, which is the equivalent of throwing a dart across the length of a basketball court and hitting a bullseye.
It's no small task, so for about a month out, practice has been key.
"We do a lot of practices so we're able to do that right on the day of and get it right the first time," explained Lauren Duda, planetary and weather communications lead for Lockheed Martin
To simulate what it will be like to land OSIRIS-REx, a replica capsule was dropped from a helicopter. The team then jumped into action, locating, securing and flying it back to the Dugway Proving Grounds.
"You know, that entry descent and landing sequence is really intense," said Duda. "And then once it gets out here, there's a lot of people who have to work together to bring this capsule back."
Once touchdown is complete, the capsule will be taken to a clean room which is where Lunning and her team from Johnson Space Center take over. The clean room is already set up with monitoring ready to make sure the sample is uncontaminated.
"Our team has been preparing for years now for the sample," she said.
The mission has been the first time humanity has ever attempted such a feat, so the samples answer questions mankind doesn't even know to ask.
"The amount that we will learn from these samples is immeasurable," explained Sandra Freund, OSIRIS-REx program manager.
As the clock is about to strike midnight, for all those ready to get their hands on the asteroid sample its been an emotional moment from take off to touchdown.
"The best part of the program is the team, the people, the camaraderie, and so it's very, very exciting, " said Lauretta.
"Think of how much we've learned by exploring and asking questions," said Freund, "and if we stop doing that as a species, we're not going to learn and we're not going to grow."
