When the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivers its precious asteroid samples to Earth on Sept. 24, two University of Arizona researchers will be among the first to examine the scientific treasure trove. Professor of planetary sciences Thomas Zega and assistant professor of planetary sciences Pierre Haenecour from the university’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory are part of NASA’s "quick-look team," a small group of researchers assigned to conduct the first science on what the spacecraft collected from the asteroid Bennu. "I get goosebumps just thinking about how I will be among the first people in the world to actually see the sample — not just see it, but analyze it in detail," said Zega, who arrived at the university in 2011, the same year NASA approved the now-$1 billion asteroid sampling mission. "We will know ahead of even the science team what's in the sample."