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Incoming asteroid sample! 🚀

(Copyright 2023 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

Hi friends, it’s your Space Coast correspondent James Sparvero and by the end of the week, NASA expects to obtain the first asteroid sample collected in space and brought to Earth.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission launched from the Space Coast in September 2016.

Now, after landing on the asteroid Bennu in 2020, OSIRIS-REx is expected to land Sunday in the Utah desert. NASA says Bennu may hold clues to how life began on our planet 🌎.

According to a news release, when the spacecraft lands, NASA will collect the rocks and dust and bring the sample to the Johnson Space Center in Houston for further examination.

NASA even built a new laboratory where its Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science team will manage distribution of samples to scientists around the world for years to come.

NASA says the sample will be unveiled to the public on Oct. 11. Our coverage continues then!

Have a great launch into the rest of your week 🚀!

📧 Have any topics you’d like to discuss? Send me an email here.

👋 Here’s a little bit more about me.

Little did I know when watching Apollo 13 in the third grade that 20 years later, I was destined for a thrilling career as your Space Coast multimedia journalist.

Chemistry and biology weren’t so interesting to me in high school science, but I loved my Earth and Space class (Thanks, Mr. Lang).

Then in 2016, I traded Capitol correspondent in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for space correspondent. I’m proud that my first live report at News 6 happened to be the first time SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 booster on a barge. What seems so routine now was a really big deal that day in our newsroom!

From there, I’ve covered the Commercial Crew program and the return of human spaceflight to Kennedy Space Center (Demo-2 launched on my 33rd birthday!)

Now, as our coverage looks forward to missions to the moon and Mars, I often tell others I have the best job in local news. Because after all I’ve seen so far, I think I would be bored working somewhere else. I even bought a house near the Cape with a great view to the north so I never miss a launch even when I’m not working.

After seven years on the beat, though, I still consider myself a young space reporter and I always look forward to learning something new with every assignment.


About the Authors
Daniel Dahm headshot

Daniel started with WKMG-TV in 2000 and became the digital content manager in 2009. When he's not working on ClickOrlando.com, Daniel likes to head to the beach or find a sporting event nearby.

Brenda Argueta headshot

Brenda Argueta is a digital journalist who joined ClickOrlando.com in March 2021. She is the author of the Central Florida Happenings newsletter that goes out every Thursday.