We're celebrating a different kind of touchdown this Sunday

We're celebrating a different kind of touchdown this Sunday :

Our OSIRIS-REx mission returned the first asteroid sample collected in space by the United States, today, Sept. 24.⁣

The sample touched down at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City at 8:52 a.m. local time, marking the end of a seven-year journey to map asteroid Bennu, collect a sample from its surface, and deliver it to Earth.⁣

The next phase of the mission is just beginning. The sample will be unveiled at @NASAJohnson in Houston on Wednesday, Oct. 11.⁣

From the sample, scientists hope to learn more about how our planet and solar system formed, as well as the origins of organics and water that may have led to life on Earth.⁣

Image descriptions:⁣

1. Black, top-shaped sample return capsule sits on the desert ground.⁣

2. Aerial view of the sample return capsule on the desert ground with an orange-and-white parachute attached.⁣

3. A woman wearing a blue jacket and black pants examines the capsule.⁣

4. Three men look at the capsule, one is kneeling, two are standing. ⁣

5. Three men prepare the sample for transport by helicopter in the desert.⁣

6. Woman wearing brown pants, a white shirt, and an orange hard hat stands in the desert next to the packaged sample return capsule facing the approaching helicopter.⁣

7. The sample capsule is suspended the helicopter by long line against a bright blue sky and the desert below. A woman looks up at the capsule as it departs.⁣

8. An air-to-air view of the helicopter flying over a desert mountain landscape with with the sample return capsule attached to it by a long line.⁣

9. Two men wearing hard hats unhook the net containing the sample return capsule from the helicopter. They are standing outside of the temporary cleanroom.⁣