Collecting the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule. NASA/Keegan Barber June 10, 2024 NASA’s asteroid sample mission gave scientists around the world the rare opportunity to study an artificial meteor Brian Elbing, Oklahoma State University and Elizabeth A. Silber, Sandia National Laboratories Scientists don’t often have the time to get all their equipment set up to study incoming meteors from space. Instead, they can study capsules from space missions as ‘artificial meteors.’