OSIRIS REx Deployment Paper

Sample Return Capsules (SRCs) entering Earth's atmosphere at hypervelocity from66 interplanetary space are a valuable resource for studying meteor phenomena. The 24 September67 2023 arrival of the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and68 Security-Regolith Explorer) SRC provided an unprecedented chance for geophysical69 observations of a well-characterized source with known parameters, including timing and70 trajectory. A collaborative effort involving researchers from 16 institutions executed a carefully71 planned geophysical observational campaign at strategically chosen locations, deploying over72 400 ground-based sensors encompassing infrasound, seismic, distributed acoustic sensing73 (DAS), and GPS technologies. Additionally, balloons equipped with infrasound sensors were74 launched to capture signals at higher altitudes. This campaign (the largest of its kind so far)75 yielded a wealth of invaluable data anticipated to fuel scientific inquiry for years to come. The76 success of the observational campaign is evidenced by the near-universal detection of signals77 across instruments, both proximal and distal. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of78 the collective scientific effort, field deployment, and preliminary findings. The early findings have79 the potential to inform future space missions and terrestrial campaigns, contributing to our80 understanding of meteoroid interactions with planetary atmospheres. Furthermore, the dataset81 collected during this campaign will improve entry and propagation models as well as augment the82 study of atmospheric dynamics and shock phenomena generated by meteoroids and similar83 sources.