Welcome from the Head and Director
What an exceptional day September 24 was for LPL and UArizona! Early that morning, OSIRIS-REx released its Sample Return Capsule (SRC) and shortly thereafter, the spacecraft began the divert maneuver to avoid impacting Earth and begin its voyage to Apophis as OSIRIS-APEX under the leadership of Dr. Daniella DellaGiustina. At the landing site in Utah, the SRC recovery team, led by Regents Professor Dante Lauretta, was ready and waiting to recover the capsule. As you know by now, it was a picture perfect landing. The SRC was transported to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Johnson Space Center, where it was opened for initial assessment. I can’t wait until the first samples are back home in the Kuiper Building. From LPL director Mike Drake's initial concept in 2004 to the spectacular return this week, the mission represents the very best of LPL. A science-first mission concept with relentless attention to execution by an outstanding team has brought us to this point. Thank you and congratulations to Dante, Dani, and the entire team!
It was appropriate that over 150 OSIRIS-REx team members, past and present, and their families gathered in the Michael J. Drake Building to share the moment of sample return in a standing-room-only theater. In Kuiper, we hosted a smaller gathering of LPL undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff to watch the live feed. I myself remember rising early on July 20, 1976, to watch the return of the first images from the surface of Mars, so I know how inspirational these moments are. I’m so glad that the students could see how it is done.
This month we celebrated another LPL inspiration. Doctoral candidate Zarah Brown has spent years developing a concept for a scale model of the Solar System to be installed on campus. On September 8, LPL hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially inaugurate the series of plaques, each featuring art by LPL alum James Tuttle Keane.
And finally, a note that LPL has teamed up with Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium to host the full dome show Incoming! about the search for hazardous asteroids. Check it out when you are in Tucson.
Mark S. Marley, Ph.D.
Department Head and Laboratory Director
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