The collection will take place on October 20, making it NASA’s first spacecraft to collect a sample of an asteroid and return it to Earth.
The OSIRIS-REx will leave Bennu in 2021 and return to Earth in September 2023 with about 30 packages of sugar-worthy asteroid-worthy material.
Since arriving in December 2018, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has orbited the asteroid and mapped its surface.
Bennu lies 179 million miles from Earth, but it is considered an asteroid near Earth. The asteroid could pass close to Earth in 2135, closer to the moon, with even closer approximations possible in 2175 and 2195. A direct hit is not likely, but the data collected during this mission can help determine the best ways to get close to Earth. deflated asteroids.
Bennu’s samples could help scientists not only understand more about asteroids that could affect the Earth, but also about how planets formed and life began.
Space tag
On Tuesday, the spacecraft worked through its TAG, as a Touch-and-Go sequence, which is how it will collect samples from the asteroid.
This rehearsal took about four hours to complete, as it worked through three of the four maneuvers needed to collect a sample.
In essence, the spacecraft had to inflict burn wounds, or burn its thrusters, to get closer to the surface of the asteroid’s surface – making its orbit 0.6 miles away from the asteroid.
Then it fired a “Checkpoint” fire at 410 feet away. During this maneuver, OSIRIS-Rex can autonomously check its position and speed to see if it needs to make adjustments before moving closer to the asteroid.
OSIRIS-REx then reaches its “Matchpoint” fire, where the spacecraft corresponds to the rotation of the asteroid so that it can fly above the sample site.
This puts the spacecraft closer than it has ever been to the surface of the asteroid, 131 meters away. During this close encounter, OSIRIS-REx has expanded its Touch-and-Go Sample acquisition mechanism, as a sampling arm to test it in the configuration it will use in October.
Instruments on the spacecraft took more observations for scientific and navigational purposes, which is also part of the sample collection. The new high-resolution images that these instruments have acquired will help the Natural Space Feature Tracking guidance system of space travel to the small collection site.
This guidance system allows OSIRIS-REx to use its on-board hazard map and avoid areas that could cause damage to the spacecraft. The planned trajectory to reach and cross the Nightingale site shows that a safe touchdown will be possible in October.
Given the distance from Earth’s spacecraft, it takes about 16 minutes for a signal sent from Earth to reach OSIRIS-REx. That commands will be sent in advance to the spacecraft, as well as a command to launch this sequence, in October. The team tested this capability during the rehearsal.
The mission team also used this rehearsal as an opportunity to ensure that the spaceship’s systems functioned normally.
“Many important systems were exercised during this rehearsal – from communications, spaceships, and most importantly, the onboard Feature Tracking guidance system and hazard map,” said OSIRIS-REx lead researcher Dante Lauretta, a professor of planetary science and cosmochemistry at the University of Arizona , in a statement.
“Now that we’ve completed this milestone, we are confident in finalizing the procedures for the TAG event. This rehearsal confirmed that the spaceship team and all systems are ready for a sample run in October. the collection. “
While many of the team worked remotely, a limited number of team members were on site at Lockheed Martin’s Space Facility, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Arizona and practicing health and safety precautions amid the ongoing pandemic.
In October, the spacecraft will actually reach the surface of the asteroid and use its sampling arm to run down five seconds. It will release a pressure of nitrogen to disrupt the surface of the asteroid and collect samples of that material. Then it will go back and bring the samples back to Earth on September 24, 2023.
What we know so far
Since arriving at Bennu in 2018, OSIRIS-REx has revealed intriguing information about the asteroid.
The mission – which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer – launched in September 2016.
Bennu is covered in cobwebs instead of in large areas with fine-grained material that scientists expect.
Bennu is the smallest body ever flown by a spaceship, just slightly wider than the height of the Empire State Building, according to NASA. Bennu has a shape similar to that of a spinning top, and it is a “rubble pill” asteroid, which is a grouping of rocks held together by gravity rather than a single object.
The instruments of OSIRIS-REx have confirmed that hydrated minerals, including magnetite, are hot and widespread on the asteroid. The asteroid is full of valuable materials that may even contain clues as to how life began. Bennu is essentially a remnant of the formation of our solar system billions of years ago.
Bennu is thought to have originated in the main asteroid belt, after breaking off from a larger asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter a few billion years ago. This knocked it through space until a orbit near Earth locked it in place.
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