Bennu is also one of the most potentially hazardous asteroids. Bennu may contain the molecular precursors to the origin of life and the Earth’s oceans. The OSIRIS-REx Mission seeks answers to questions that are central to the human experience: Where did we come from? What is our destiny? OSIRIS-REx is going to Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid that records the earliest history of our Solar System, and bringing a piece of it back to Earth. Although the orbit is reasonably well known, scientists continue to refine it.įigure 1: Simulated image of asteroid Bennu (image credit: NASA) This orbit takes it close to the Earth every six years. It completes an orbit of the Sun every 436.604 days (1.2 years). mission to return samples from an asteroid to Earth, addressing multiple NASA Solar System Exploration objectives to understand not just the origin of the Solar System, but the origin of water and organic material on Earth.īennu is a near-Earth object with a mean diameter in of ~492 m and a mass of ~7.8 x 10 10 kg. A pristine, carbonaceous asteroid containing the original material from the solar nebula, from which our Solar System formed. 1) 2) 3)īennu is a time capsule from 4.5 billion years ago. The science team includes members from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy. In addition, MIT and Harvard College Observatory are providing an imaging X-ray spectrometer as a Student Collaboration Experiment. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is providing a laser altimeter, building on the strong relationship established during the Phoenix Mars mission. OSIRIS-REx brings together all of the pieces essential for a successful asteroid sample return mission, - The University of Arizona’s (Tucson, AZ) leadership in planetary science and experience operating the Mars Phoenix Lander Lockheed Martin’s (Denver, CO) unique experience in sample-return mission development and operations NASA/GSFC's (Greenbelt, MD) expertise in project management, systems engineering, safety and mission assurance, and visible-near infrared spectroscopy KinetX’s (Tempe, AZ) experience with spacecraft navigation and Arizona State University’s (Tempe, AZ) knowledge of thermal emission spectrometers. Only by understanding the organic chemistry and geochemistry of an asteroid sample can this knowledge be acquired. Knowledge of its nature is fundamental to understanding planet formation and the origin of life. This asteroid is both the most accessible carbonaceous asteroid and the most potentially hazardous asteroid known. After several months of proximity operations to characterize the asteroid, OSIRIS-REx flies a TAG (Touch-And-Go) trajectory to the asteroid’s surface to collect at least 60 gram of pristine regolith sample for Earth return. The rendezvous with Bennu is planned for October 2018. The objective is to rendezvous and thoroughly characterize near-Earth asteroid Bennu (previously known as 1019551999 RQ36). OSIRIS-REx is an 'Asteroid Sample Return Mission' NASA's New Frontiers Program. OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security‒Regolith Explorer) Spacecraft Launch Mission Status Sensor Complement TAG Phase Flight Dynamics References
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