LPL Spotlight Stories

recovery team walks out onto the tarmac to the waiting helicopters

Preparing to Welcome an Asteroid Sample

On the morning of Aug. 29, outside a hangar on the U.S. Army's Dugway Proving Ground in the high mountain desert of central Utah, members of NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample recovery team began a two-day "dress rehearsal" – their last opportunity to perfect procedures before the first extraterrestrial samples collected beyond the orbit of the moon are expected to land on Earth on Sept. 24.
Members of the sample curation team wheel the capsule into the cleanroom

OSIRIS-REx Team Completes Final Test Before Asteroid Sample Delivery

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will deliver a sample from asteroid Bennu to scientists waiting in the Utah desert on Sept. 24.
OSIRIS-REx mission principal investigator Dante Lauretta

Asteroid Sample Delivery to Launch Decades of Science

A University of Arizona-led NASA mission nearly 20 years in the making is finally reaching its end, but the scientific investigation is only beginning.
OSIRIS-REx team members practice getting a mock sample capsule packed for its helicopter flight

This Is How the First-Ever U.S. Asteroid Sample Return Will Unfold

Scientists are gearing up for a high-stakes finale to OSIRIS-REx, the first U.S. mission to snare a sample from an asteroid
The capsule used in the exercise is a full-scale replica of the one that is on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.

OSIRIS-REx Team Members Practice Recovering Asteroid Sample Capsule Bound for Earth

Everything must go smoothly when the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft releases its capsule with pristine asteroid material to land in the Utah desert in September.

Hamilton, Ranjan, Robinson Named 2023 Scialog Fellows

Scialog is short for “science + dialog.” Created in 2010 by RCSA, the Scialog format supports research by stimulating intensive interdisciplinary conversation and community building around a globally important scientific theme. Teams of two or three Fellows who have not previously collaborated compete for seed funding for novel research projects based on the ideas that emerge at the conference.
Asteroid Itokawa as seen by the Hayabusa spacecraft. The peanut-shaped S-type asteroid measures approximately 1,100 feet in diameter and completes one rotation every 12 hours.

Pass the Salt: This Space Rock Holds Clues as to How Earth Got Its Water

The discovery of tiny salt grains in an asteroid sample brought to Earth by the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft provides strong evidence that liquid water may be more common in the solar system's largest asteroid population than previously thought.
Artist's impression of a near-Earth object in space.

Catalina Sky Survey Wants Your Help Hunting for Asteroids

Anyone with an internet connection can now join University of Arizona researchers as they work to discover asteroids hurtling through our solar system.
Exoplanet GJ 486 b

Webb Finds Water Vapor, But From a Rocky Planet or Its Star?

GJ 486 b is about 30% larger than the Earth and three times as massive, which means it is a rocky world with stronger gravity than Earth. It orbits a red dwarf star in just under 1.5 Earth days. It is too close to its star to be within the habitable zone, with a surface temperature of about 800 degrees Fahrenheit. And yet, Webb observations show hints of water vapor.

 Dr. Renu Malhotra, Regents Professor and Louise Foucar Marshall Science Research Professor of Planetary Sciences.

Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Renu Malhotra

The College of Science is celebrating Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month with Dr. Renu Malhotra, a Regents Professor and Louise Foucar Marshall Science Research Professor in the Planetary Sciences department.