[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 156 (Tuesday, September 26, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E888-E889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA-LED NASA OSIRIS-REX FIRST-EVER ASTEROID 
                         SAMPLE RETURN MISSION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 26, 2023

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of University of 
Arizona-led NASA mission of spacecraft OSIRIS-REx and the first ever 
return of an asteroid sample to Earth. Launched seven years ago, in 
2016, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, 
Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) successfully arrived at the 
asteroid Bennu in 2018. Because Bennu is older than Earth, studying a 
sample of Bennu will provide understanding of what might have been 
delivered to early Earth during Precambrian time. The asteroid is 500 
meters across, roughly the height of the Empire State Building. OSIRIS-
REx used complex imagery to successfully map and determine the best 
place to obtain a sample. On October 20, 2020, OSIRIS-REx landed and 
collected a sample of Bennu, four times more sample than originally 
expected.
  On May 10, 2021, OSIRIS-REx began its return voyage to Earth. This 
past Sunday, September 24, OSIRIS-REx released a capsule containing the 
Bennu sample before continuing on to rendezvous with the asteroid 
Apophis. Apophis will come very close to Earth's orbit in 2029.
  The sample return capsule made a spectacular descent as it hit the 
Earth's atmosphere, traveling 27,000 miles per hour and reaching five 
thousand degrees Fahrenheit. The capsule safely reached the drop zone, 
traveling a mere 11 miles per hour. Crews determined the integrity of 
the capsule; it is now in a clean room preparing for analysis.
  The sample will be analyzed by students at the University of Arizona 
to determine Bennu's physical and chemical properties, windows into the 
most fundamental questions of our universe--namely how planets formed 
and how life began. Examining Bennu will also aid scientists in 
planning for possible impact mitigation missions. Asteroids like Bennu 
contain natural resources such as water, organics, and precious metals.
  I am extremely proud that Tucson is once again a key player in a 
critical NASA mission, just as it has been with many others throughout 
our Nation's history. OSIRIS-REx is an $800 million University of 
Arizona-led NASA mission that demonstrates the importance of vital 
scientific investments.
  The OSIRIS-REx mission is funded by NASA and its science is led by 
the University of Arizona (UA). I would like to once again congratulate 
Dr. Dante Lauretta of the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory for his 
leadership as principal investigator and, along with his team, for 
bringing this exciting mission to the sample analysis phase. I greatly 
look forward to celebrating even more milestones with

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his team as analysis reveals untold mysteries of our universe and as 
the now OSIRIS-REx-APEX continues towards the asteroid Apophis. This 
mission is the latest in a long list of achievements by scientists at 
the University of Arizona in my home district. In fact, UA scientists 
have collaborated in every single American mission to the Moon and Mars 
since 1964, including serving as the lead on the Phoenix Mars Mission.
  The University of Arizona is involving undergraduate and graduate 
students and continuing to cultivate the next generation of STEM 
leaders--many of whom will be from my home state of Arizona. I wish the 
OSIRIS-REx team the best of luck in the analysis stage of their 
historic mission and congratulate them in their profound success in the 
first ever return of an asteroid sample to Earth.

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