NASA to live stream asteroid sample's return to Earth this weekend

Sept. 20 (UPI) -- NASA has scheduled coverage of its first asteroid sampling mission's return to Earth.

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security -- Regolith Explorer (OSIriS-REx) sample capsule is scheduled to re-enter the atmosphere and return to Earth Sunday, during which it will land in Utah.

"The first asteroid sample collected in space by NASA will arrive on Earth Sunday, Sept. 24, and there are multiple events leading up to its landing," NASA said in a press release Monday.

The OSIRIS-REx mission was launched on Sept. 8, 2016, and reached the near-Earth asteroid 101955 Bennu on Dec. 3, 2018.

The spacecraft spent two years searching for a location on the asteroid to collect a sample and landed on the surface on Oct. 20, 2020.

Coverage of the sample capsule's return to Earth will begin at 10 a.m. EDT Sunday on NASA TV and the NASA app.

At about 5 p.m., if the mission proceeds nominally, there will be a post-recovery press conference.

NASA says the spacecraft will have to travel at a specific angle and speed in order to release the sample capsule into the atmosphere so that it lands in the area of the Defense Department's Utah Test and Training Range, where the capsule will be recovered.