Get Ready for an Extraordinary Delivery from Space!
This weekend, something remarkable is happening: NASA is sending a special delivery back to Earth. It’s a sample of an asteroid that was collected 220 million miles away from our planet in 2020. The spacecraft responsible for this incredible feat is called Osiris-Rex, which stands for “Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer.” It will be delivering a small capsule containing about half a pound (250 grams) of rocks and dust to the Utah desert on September 24.
Compared to the teaspoon-sized samples retrieved by previous Japanese missions, this delivery will provide scientists with a larger, more substantial sample to study. It’s an exciting opportunity to learn more about the history of our solar system!
Bringing objects from deep space back to Earth is no easy task. These objects travel at extraordinary speeds and require expensive shielding to prevent them from burning up in the atmosphere. Additionally, complex parachute or rocket systems are needed to safely land them on the ground.
So why go through all this trouble to bring back samples from space? Well, the answer lies in the value of these unique scientific samples. They offer unprecedented insights and knowledge about our universe. In fact, the only other things worth such a hefty investment are humans themselves. The Federal Aviation Administration has licensed nine reentries in 2023 for astronauts returning on public and private SpaceX Dragon missions.
However, if we want to realize the most ambitious vision of the space economy – one that includes drug and electronics manufacturing in orbit, as well as asteroid mining for metals – we’ll need to start bringing back a lot more than just samples. Currently, there are companies like Varda Space Industries, Redwire, and Space Tango looking for ways to make this happen. Varda, for example, recently launched its first spacecraft with a fabricator to produce samples of the HIV drug ritonavir. Unfortunately, the company’s request to bring back these samples from orbit was denied. They’ll have to reapply for a reentry license to see how they came out.
While regulatory bodies stress the importance of safety, companies like Varda are eager to land payloads monthly starting in 2026. Inversion, Canopy Space, AstroForge, and other companies are also in the race to make space payload returns more affordable and feasible. AstroForge, for instance, aims to mine platinum-group metals from asteroids and hopes to return its first payload to Earth by 2030. Regulating these orbital deliveries will be a challenge, especially with the increasing number of launches taking place.
Interestingly, it’s not just the private sector that wants to bring back more stuff from the universe. The US, China, India, Japan, and the EU all have missions planned in the coming years to the Moon, Mars, Mars’ moon Phobos, and other asteroids. We are truly living in a golden age of space exploration and resource harvesting. And to think, we haven’t even achieved fully reusable rockets yet!
If All Goes Well, This is What the Sample Delivery Will Look Like
On July 24, NASA conducted a dress rehearsal for the sample recovery process, and they captured an amazing scene. If everything goes according to plan, we can expect a similar scene on September 24.
Space News Roundup
- SpaceX has sued two administrative law officials and Attorney General Merrick Garland, arguing that the employment discrimination charges brought against the company earlier this year were unconstitutional.
- Maxar, the earth imaging company, has split into two organizations. One is focused on building satellites, while the other is responsible for collecting and selling the data they gather.
- Rocket Lab experienced an anomaly with its Electron rocket, resulting in the vehicle and its payload, a Capella space radar satellite, falling into the ocean. The company is investigating the cause.
- Firefly set a new record for “responsive launch” by successfully launching a satellite for Darpa with only 27 hours’ notice.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Elon Musk and SpaceX executives to discuss market access for Starlink. Erdoğan requested a Tesla factory in return.
Rocket Talk
According to FAA space chief Kevin Coleman, SpaceX’s safety review of Starship is expected to conclude in October. However, an environmental review may take longer to complete.
Lastly, don’t forget to check out our previous articles on the challenges of building a new satellite network and the extraterrestrial equities that survived the SPAC collapse!
We hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter. Have a stellar week ahead! Send us your favorite ways to come back from deep space, tips, and informed opinions at [email protected].
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
