Yesterday NASA shared amazing photos of its OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft, revealing how rocks and debris formed on the surface of the object when the vehicle approached. The tap’s goal was to collect a sample of the material from the asteroid, but the engineers behind the spacecraft say they won’t say for sure that they will collect anything by the end of this week, when they spin the vehicle and measure how much material is inside.
However, the OSIRIS-REx team is confident they have got it Something. “The bottom line is from the analysis of the images that we’ve come down to so far, that the sampling phenomenon is going really well, the better we can imagine it,” said Dante Lauretta, chief investigator at OSIRIS-Rex. The University of Arizona said during a press conference. “And I think the opportunities within the content based on the analysis of the images … have moved on.”
Images of the event show how OSIRIS-Rex on Tuesday captured some planetary debris from a planet called Bennu. These pictures highlight the extended robotic arm end of the OSIRIS-Rex, which is tasked with gently pressing on the surface of the bennu. “We were in contact with the surface for about six seconds, and our collection time is about five seconds,” Sandy Freund, mission support manager for OSIRIS-Rex at Lockhead Martin, told a news conference. When it touched Bennu, the spacecraft’s hand released nitrogen gas, causing the rocks and pebbles on the planet to dance in excitement. The hope is that some of the rocks fell into the hands due to the gas.
Now that the OSISIS-REx team has drilled holes in the data, it’s just a game of waiting. On Saturday, engineers will send the OSIRIS-REx into spin, measuring the inertia of the vehicle, by extending its sample arm. It should then compare the criteria to how OSISIS-REx spun once before, without taking any samples in its hands. The difference between those criteria should give the team a better idea of how many vehicles were caught on Tuesday.
And if Osiris-Rex has caught at least a gram of gram – then the mission team will leave Bennu next year to begin preparations for the spacecraft and return its precious cargo to scientists on Earth and embark on a long journey.
