Sept. 12, 2023 Take a stroll through the solar system – on the UArizona campus Eleven plaques have been installed across campus to show the relative sizes and distances of solar system objects. Zarah Brown, a doctoral student at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, led the project to make space science accessible to people of all ages.
Sept. 1, 2023 OSIRIS-REx team completes final test before asteroid sample delivery Members of NASA's UArizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission completed one last dress rehersal before the spacecraft delivers a sample from asteroid Bennu to the Utah desert on Sept. 24.
Aug. 22, 2023 Asteroid sample delivery to launch decades of science When the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivers a sample from asteroid Bennu to Earth on Sept. 24, it will launch decades of scientific investigation. Mission principal investigator Dante Lauretta is most excited to shed light on the origins of life on Earth.
July 6, 2023 OSIRIS-REx team members practice recovering asteroid sample capsule bound for Earth Everything must go smoothly when the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft releases its capsule full of pristine asteroid material over the Utah desert in September. Members of the mission team gathered at Lockheed Martin in Colorado to rehearse recovering the capsule and its precious cargo.
March 24, 2023 6 months to go until historic asteroid sample delivery NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is cruising back to Earth with the sample it collected from asteroid Bennu's rocky surface in 2020. When the sample capsule parachutes down into the Utah desert on Sept. 24, the UArizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission will become the first U.S. mission to return an asteroid sample to Earth.
Feb. 8, 2023 Economic impact of UArizona space sciences rivals that of Super Bowl University of Arizona space sciences activities generate more than $560 million every year for the local economy, according to an economic impact report delivered by Rounds Consulting Group.
Jan. 25, 2023 Solar system 'detectives' search for clues in 'crumbs' left over from early solar system NASA awarded nearly $3 million to the University of Arizona Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility to support OSIRIS-REx sample science and much more.
Dec. 13, 2022 Astronomical images, asteroid exploration and a long-awaited art arrival: Top stories of 2022 From exploring the deepest corners of the universe to reimagining urban heat resilience, University of Arizona expertise in several disciplines generated international headlines in 2022.
Oct. 19, 2022 Planetary scientist Dani DellaGiustina makes Popular Science Brilliant 10 Dani DellaGiustina, deputy principal investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission and principal investigator for OSIRIS-APEX, was named to the list for her work to understand the solar system's past, present and future.
July 7, 2022 OSIRIS-REx scientists: Taking asteroid sample was like punching a ball pit Before-and-after data from the few seconds it took the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to collect a sample from asteroid Bennu revealed a surprise: The particles of Bennu's exterior are so loosely packed, they act more like a fluid than a solid.