University of Arizona Professor and OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dr. Dante Lauretta explains how asteroids could solve some of the oldest mysteries of the universe.

In this episode, we celebrate the five-year anniversary of the asteroid sample collection on October 20 and explore the spacecraft’s design, the daring Touch-And-Go maneuver, challenges the team overcame, and what we’ve learned so far from the materials returned from Asteroid Bennu. Our knowledge of space is rapidly evolving, and we still have so much to learn about why these ancient space rocks may hold the secrets to life itself.

This special release features the full-length conversation with Dante from our upcoming Season 7 of Behind the Wings on PBS. To dive deeper into the OSIRIS-REx mission, watch the video premiere on November 27 on our YouTube page. This one is going to be cool!

The regular podcast will take a short mid-season break and return on November 24. In the meantime, check out our upcoming weekly mini-series: The Making of Behind the Wings PBS Season 7!

Resources:

• Dante's Bio (University of Arizona)
• Asteroid Bennu (NASA)
• Asteroid Apophis (NASA)
• OSIRIS-REx Mission (NASA)
• OSIRIS-APEX (NASA)

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (02:43) - Aerospace Beginnings
• (06:07) - Antarctic Collection Mission
• (09:36) - Why Go to an Asteroid?
• (11:57) - Designing OSIRIS-REx
• (14:16) - Earning NASA Funding
• (17:33) - Michael Drake's Passing
• (21:53) - The Challenge of Microgravity
• (24:35) - Testing the Spacecraft
• (26:51) - Launch Day
• (30:26) - Why was Asteroid Bennu Chosen?
• (31:47) - First Images
• (33:33) - Unexpected Obstacles when Landing
• (36:35) - The Touch-And-Go System
• (45:51) - Returning O-REx to Earth
• (52:06) - Removing the Samples
• (53:46) - Space Rock Testing
• (55:17) - What Have We Learned so Far?
• (57:48) - Are We Alone in the Universe?
• (59:51) - Future Missions
• (01:01:48) - Dante's Advice
• (01:03:06) - Outro