The Challenge: Preparing for Launch
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission sent a spacecraft in September 2016 to the asteroid Bennu in order to extract a sample and bring it back to earth. Bennu is a carbon-rich asteroid that records the earliest history of our Solar System, and by studying a piece of it we could discover the origin of life. Bennu also has a relatively high probability of impacting the Earth late in the 22nd century. OSIRIS-REx will determine Bennu’s physical and chemical properties which will be critical for future scientists to know when developing an impact mitigation mission.
To meet mission objectives OSIRIS-REx will have a payload of scientific, navigation, and communication instruments on board. One of which is the OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES). Thermal data from OTES will allow scientists to determine the mineral composition and temperature distribution of Bennu for global maps and local candidate sample-site areas. OTES is being developed and built at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University (ASU).
NASA’s rules for testing flight instruments and other space hardware are detailed and thorough. Therefore, ASU’s testing will include placing OTES in a LACO Thermal Vacuum Chamber where it will be subjected to the same conditions it will experience during the mission.
Our Solution: Thermal Vacuum Testing
The space simulation chamber which LACO Technologies built for ASU is 60” (152.4 cm) in diameter and 96” (243.8 cm) deep. It includes a vibration isolated platen with drilled and tapped holes for instrument mounting. The chamber also comes with full internal shrouds which are cooled with liquid Nitrogen.
The system includes a cryogenic vacuum pump for high vacuum and a complete control system for automatic and manual operation. It is designed to replicate the environment that the spacecraft will experience in space with pressures as low as 5 x 10-7 Torr and temperatures as low as -192º C, depending on how much LN2 is run through the shrouds.
Mission Success
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission achieved its primary objective by successfully collecting material from asteroid Bennu and returning it to Earth. After launching in 2016 and arriving at Bennu in late 2018, the spacecraft surveyed the asteroid and selected a sample site. In October 2020 it gathered more than twice the required amount of surface material, ultimately returning approximately 121.6 grams of pristine asteroid regolith to Earth in September 2023. The sample capsule parachuted to a landing at the Utah Test and Training Range, where it was retrieved and transported to NASA laboratories for analysis.
OSIRIS-REx was the first U.S. mission to return samples from an asteroid, providing scientists with carbon-rich material that has already revealed water, organic compounds, and clues about the early solar system and the building blocks of life. Ongoing analysis of the Bennu samples continues to advance understanding of solar system history and planetary formation, with research teams around the world studying this material for decades to come.
Continued Mission
After delivering the Bennu sample to Earth in September 2023, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft began an extended mission under a new name: OSIRIS-APEX (OSIRIS-Apophis Explorer). The spacecraft was repurposed rather than deactivated, allowing NASA and mission partners to continue scientific exploration of another near-Earth asteroid.
OSIRIS-APEX’s next objective is the near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis, a roughly 340-meter stony asteroid that will make a very close approach to Earth on April 13, 2029, passing within approximately 20,000–32,000 km of the planet’s surface — closer than many satellites.
To reach Apophis, OSIRIS-APEX performed gravity-assist flybys of Earth, including a close approach on September 23, 2025 that helped adjust its trajectory and speed for the long cruise to its next destination.
The spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous with Apophis in April 2029, shortly after the asteroid’s close encounter with Earth, and will study it for approximately 18 months. OSIRIS-APEX will use the same instrument suite it operated at Bennu to map the asteroid’s surface, analyze its composition, and observe changes caused by Earth’s gravitational influence.
Although the extended mission will not return another sample, it will reprise key observational techniques, including maneuvers that stir up loose surface material for study. By documenting Apophis’s properties before, during, and after the close approach, OSIRIS-APEX aims to deliver new insights into the behavior of a dynamically evolving asteroid and further inform research on potentially hazardous objects.
