Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
I'm having one of those weeks. Everything I write feels fake and insincere. This might be a subtle form of writer's block or a little bit of burn out because of the whirlwind month at work (perhaps the busiest of my career).
Since I can't muster up any writing-relevant anecdotes or witticisms, I thought this week I would acknowledge the imminent return of an old friend.
OSIRIS-REx (O-REx for short), the first space mission I ever worked on at NASA, is coming home. Sort of. The spacecraft is swinging by Earth, dropping off a sample return capsule for atmospheric re-entry, and continuing on to another asteroid. Tomorrow.
O-REx holds a special place in my heart. Partly because I got to work the entire mission's development lifecycle. Partly because I grew into my own professionally over the course. Mostly because it was the first real-life space mission to capture my imagination. Forget sending humans back to the moon, this was a robotic spacecraft purpose-built to travel to an asteroid, touch it, collect a dust and rock sample from the beginning of the solar system, and return that sample back to Earth for study.
I remember looking at the mission timeline shortly after being assigned to the project in 2013. The numbers were unfathomable to me. I couldn't imagine myself three years into the future, much less ten.
But what was once unfathomable is now reality. The last decade passed rather quickly, in hindsight. I bet the next one goes even faster.
Anyway, welcome back, O-REx, my old friend. I'm so excited to see what you've been up to all these years.
Edit: successful landing!