On Tuesday, the NASA spacecraft, OSRIIS-Rex, a planet, will try to touch Bennu briefly and pull out some rocks and dirt. If it succeeds, it will bring the material back to Earth for closer study, which was the formation of the solar system. Unlocking its potential secrets when it happened billions of years ago.
“Asteroids are like time capsules floating in space, which could provide a record of the birth fossils of our solar system,” Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, told a news conference Monday.
Many asteroids – including Bennu – cross Earth’s orbit and may one day collide with our planet. A better understanding of these space rocks, which come in many types, could help humanity’s ability to rotate to slam into Earth.
What is OSIRIIS-RXX mission?
OSIRIIIRS-Rex is an acronym for Original, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer.
Dante Laureta, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona who is the mission’s chief investigator, was named. He said that as he had origins for scientific purposes – origin, spectroscopy, resources and security – he had most of the letters of Osiris, the Egyptian god, the lord of the underworld but also represented the seed of renaissance. Life. Then he was playing around with the name until he got the acronym he wanted.
The robotic spacecraft was launched in September 2016 and reached Bennu in December 2018. Since he has been observing the planet, he also documents that he was driving debris into space from its surface. A few rehearsal approaches were made in the investigation in preparation for an attempt to collect samples from the surface on Tuesday.
When will the spacecraft come down, and how can I follow it?
OSIRIS-Rex will begin its steady approach to the planet’s surface at 1:50 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday. She is scheduled to have her touch-and-go collection of Bennu samples at 6:12 p.m.
Shortly before noon, mission controllers on Earth transmitted commands into the spacecraft that would begin its descent in the direction of the planet.
The mission is based on its website, AsteroidMission.RG Will provide a visual simulation of the approach starting at 1:20 p.m. Beginning at 7 p.m., NASA Television will broadcast coverage of the sample collection effort by Mission Control in Lehhead Kahid Martin Space in Littleton, Colo.
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the space agency will hold a news conference, which will also broadcast on NASA television, to discuss how the sampling effort went and published images close to Bennu.
Why did NASA choose to study Bennu?
Bennu, discovered in 1999, is a carbon-rich asteroid that is almost black in color. It is about 1,600 feet wide. Which compares to the Empire State Building, which has a height of 1,454 feet, including an antenna at the top. Carbon-rich materials are interesting because asteroids like Bennu can have Earth seeds with building blocks for life.
In a series of papers published in the Science Journal this month, scientists told him what they had learned so far about Bennu. They found carbonate minerals in some of the planet’s geological features, which usually form in the atmosphere, including both hot water and carbon dioxide. It suggests that most of the body or bennu was at one time part of a hot spring or some other type of extensive hydrothermal system.
Scientists also noted two main types of boulders on Bennu. One is dark and rough; Others, less common, are brighter and simpler. Those differences may reflect that they were formed at different angles on Bennu’s parent object, and indicate his geological character.
Binhu because they chose to study Bennu was in danger of colliding with our planet one day.
Will an asteroid crash on Earth?
Bennu has been classified as the closest asteroid to Earth, and scientists say there is little chance of a slam on Earth. But even if that happens, there will be time to prepare future generations.
Bennu will form a series very close to Earth between 2175 and 2199.
“The probability that Bennu will affect Earth is only one in 2,700,” said Andrea Riley, program executive for the upcoming NASA mission, known as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test.
If 22nd century humans were unlucky and forgot that Bennu was coming, the planet would not be large enough for mass extinction. But it will be catastrophic at the stage of impact.
Where will the spacecraft land on the asteroid?
When OSIRIIRIS-Rex arrived in Bennu, the organizers of the mission were surprised by what they found.
Almost the entire surface of the planet is covered with boulders, where scientists expected the spacecraft to easily obtain simple patches that could grab some samples. So mission organizers had to search long and hard for a safe enough space.
In December, they finally chose Niningale, the site of a pit near the North Pole of Bennu. The spacecraft, which is 20 feet wide and the size of a sport utility vehicle, will have to be carefully explored at the target, with a diameter of only 26 feet. In addition, it will have to avoid a wall of rocks on the east edge of the pit. It consists of a single-pointed column called Mount Doom, which is as tall as a two- or three-story building.
Despite the risks, however, Nightingale pays excellent potential scientific payments for unobstructed fine-grained materials containing carbon-rich minerals.
The original mission timeline sets the sample effort to take place in July. But the rigor of landing site selection, as well as the coronavirus outbreak contributed to the October delay.
