Speaker: Dr. Dante Lauretta
Dr. Lauretta will discuss the findings from the first set of data from analysis of the samples returned from near-Earth asteroid Bennu. Dr. Lauretta heads the OSIRIS-REx research team at the University of Arizona working on this mission. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft launched in September 2016 and began its journey to Bennu, a carbon-rich, near-Earth asteroid. The spacecraft rendezvoused with Bennu in 2018 and successfully obtained a sample in October 2020. The spacecraft embarked on its return voyage to Earth on May 10, 2021. On Sept. 24, 2023, the spacecraft jettisoned the sample capsule and sent it onto a trajectory to touch down in the Utah desert. Analysis of the sample promises to provide insights into the formation of the Earth as a habitable world and the origin of life.