NASA Discovers Root Cause of Parachute Glitch in Asteroid Sample Landing

NASA has identified inconsistent labels in the OSIRIS-REx landing plans as the cause of the out-of-order parachute deployment during the return capsule's descent to Earth on September 24. The affected drogue parachute fired out of order due to the wiring of the capsules' parachute triggers, causing it to separate from the capsule at a higher altitude than intended. Despite this, the capsule landed safely on Earth due to the strength of the main parachute.

The issue was found in the OSIRIS-REx design plans, specifically in the use of the word "main" which referred to different components in the device that sends electrical signals and the receiver side of the design. NASA plans to confirm its conclusions by testing the system that releases the parachutes, which is housed at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, once the sample materials from the asteroid Bennu have been processed.

Key takeaways:

Inconsistent labels in the OSIRIS-REx landing plans caused the out-of-order parachute deployment during the return capsule’s descent to Earth on September 24.
The sample canister from the asteroid Bennu contains a greater quantity of asteroid fragments than anticipated, but recovery teams are facing difficulties in opening the canister.
The return capsule landed safely on Earth despite the design flaw, and NASA is investigating to prevent similar issues in the future.
NASA found the issue in the OSIRIS-REx design plans, specifically in the liberal use of the word “main” which caused the parachute deployment actions to occur out of order.

NASA Discovers Root Cause of Parachute Glitch in Asteroid Sample Landing

Key takeaways:

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