World scientists seize unique chances to scrutinize an artificial meteorite, thanks to NASA's asteroid sample mission

The reentry of NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule last year provided a unique opportunity for a global team of researchers to study the properties of objects from space as they speed through the Earth's atmosphere. This research, involving scientists from institutions such as Oklahoma State University (OSU), Sandia National Laboratories, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and others, marked the most-instrumented hypersonic reentry in history.

The OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule, which brought back a sample from the asteroid Bennu, offered a rare chance to measure sound waves and other phenomena produced during reentry. To capture these signals, researchers strategically positioned instruments across a 300-mile (482 km) distance, from Eureka, Nevada, to close to the landing site in Utah.

On the ground, researchers from OSU, Sandia, and the University of Hawaii deployed ground infrasound sensors closer to the capsule's landing location, along the Utah-Nevada border and at Wendover Airport. Simultaneously, balloons carrying sensors were launched from Eureka, Nevada, at twice the altitude of commercial planes during the capsule's reentry.

The research team, led by Associate Professor Brian Elbing of OSU's Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department and Senior R&D Scientist Elizabeth A. Silber of Sandia National Laboratories' Physics department, is now analysing the data to identify the points along the trajectory where instruments recorded the capsule's reentry signals.

Preliminary results show that the instruments captured signals that will help future research use low-frequency sound waves to study meteors. Gaining insights into how these waves travel through the atmosphere can help detect hazards on Earth, such as tornadoes and avalanches.

It's important to note that Earth is constantly bombarded by meteoroids from outer space. While larger meteoroids, bigger than a dishwasher, are not common, smaller ones, as tiny as grains of sand and small pebbles, usually completely burn up high in the atmosphere and go unnoticed. On rare occasions, researchers can study artificial objects that enter the atmosphere much like a meteoroid would.

The OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule's landing site was the Utah Test and Training Range. This event, one of a handful of objects to return to Earth from interplanetary space since the end of the Apollo missions, marked a significant milestone in space exploration and research.

As the analysis of the data continues, the research is expected to help figure out patterns the low-frequency sound waves propagated through the atmosphere and where the shock wave was at its peak intensity. This knowledge could pave the way for more efficient and accurate detection of objects entering our atmosphere, whether they're meteoroids or spacecraft returning from interplanetary missions.

World scientists seize unique chances to scrutinize an artificial meteorite, thanks to NASA's asteroid sample mission