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NASA and the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security \u2013 Regolith Explorer) mission team have won the National Aeronautic Association\u2019s (NAA) Robert J. Collier Trophy. NAA awards the trophy annually for what it determines is \u201cthe greatest achievement in aerospace and astronautics in America.\u201d The OSIRIS-REx team will be celebrated at an award dinner on June 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The NAA bestowed the Robert J. Collier Trophy on the team behind NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx, acknowledging the mission\u2019s place in aerospace history by being the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid and deliver it to Earth for study.<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations to the OSIRIS-REx team on this well-deserved honor,\u201d said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. \u201cBy successfully designing, building, and carrying out the first U.S. mission to collect an asteroid sample, NASA proved once again that we do big things. Things that inspire the world. We look forward to the incredible science to come that will tell us more about our solar system and help protect humanity here on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Established more than a century ago, the award has marked major achievements in the timeline of flight, including Orville Wright in 1913 for developing the automatic stabilizer; Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager for his sound-barrier-breaking 1947 flight of the X-1 rocket plane; the crews of NASA\u2019s Apollo 8, 11, and 15 for their missions to the Moon in the late 1960s and early \u201970s; and NASA\u2019s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.<\/p>\n
The OSIRIS-REx team includes NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland;\u00a0Lockheed Martin\u00a0in Littleton, Colorado;\u00a0University of Arizona, Tucson; and KinetX in Tempe, Arizona.<\/p>\n
The sample from the ancient asteroid Bennu that OSIRIS-REx delivered to Earth in September 2023 will give researchers worldwide a glimpse into the earliest days of our solar system, offering insights into planet formation and the origin of organics essential for life on Earth. Data collected by the spacecraft combined with future analysis of the Bennu sample will also aid our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.<\/p>\n
The Collier Trophy adds to the recent Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy received by NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx team in March 2024.<\/p>\n
Following its successful sample return, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was\u00a0renamed OSIRIS-APEX\u00a0and will now enter an extended mission to visit and study near-Earth asteroid Apophis in 2029.<\/p>\n
NASA Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator. The university leads the science team and the mission\u2019s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Processing and curation for OSIRIS-REx\u2019s Bennu sample takes place at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston. International partnerships on this mission include the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter instrument from CSA (the Canadian Space Agency) and asteroid sample science collaboration with JAXA\u2019s (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa2 mission. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA\u2019s New Frontiers Program, managed by the agency\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.<\/p>\n
Find more information about NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx mission at:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Rob Gutro<\/em><\/strong>
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.<\/em><\/strong>
Robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n