Image obtained on Mar. 7th by the PolyCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a distance of about 5 km (3 mi) Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reached its target, asteroid Bennu (101955 Bennu), on December 3rd, 2018. Since then, the spacecraft has been examining the asteroid’s surface, looking for a suitable landing spot to collect a sample. The problem is, Bennu has a much rockier and challenging surface than initially thought.
Artist concept of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) on the left, and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (right). Credit: NASA
The year two thousand and twenty is almost upon us. And as always, space agencies and aerospace companies all around the world are preparing to spend the coming year accomplishing a long list of missions and developments. Between NASA, the ESA, China, SpaceX, and others, there are enough plans to impress even the most curmudgeonly of space enthusiasts.
NASA has chosen the sampling site for its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. After narrowing it down to four potential sites and examining them in detail, they’ve settled on one location. Their choice? Nightingale.
OSIRIS-REx discovered particles being ejected from asteroid Bennu shortly after arriving at the asteroid. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu in December 2018, and just one week later, it discovered something unusual about Bennu: the asteroid was ejecting particles into space.
The spacecraft’s navigation camera first spotted the particles, but scientists initially thought they were just stars in the background. After closer scrutiny, the OSIRIS-REx team realized they were particles of rock, and were concerned that they might pose a hazard.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx arrived at asteroid Bennu in December 2018. During the past year, it’s been imaging the surface of the asteroid extensively, looking for a spot to take a sample from. Though the spacecraft has multiple science objectives, and a suite of instruments to meet them, the sample return is the key objective.
Now, NASA has narrowed the choice down to four potential sampling locations on the surface of the asteroid.
This image of asteroid Bennu was taken at an altitude of only 690 m (0.4 miles) from the asteroid's surface. It was captured by NavCam 1, one of three cameras in the spacecraft's TAGCAMS (the Touch-and-Go Camera System) suite. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has been at asteroid Bennu since Dec. 3rd, 2018. On that day, it went from travelling to the asteroid to travelling around it. Since then it’s been surveying and mapping Bennu.
This asteroid Bennu ejecting particles from its surface on January 19 was created by combining two images taken by the NavCam 1 imager onboard NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin
On Dec. 31st, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) rendezvoused with the asteroid 101955 Bennu. As part of an asteroid sample-return mission, NASA hopes that material from this near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) will reveal things about the history of the Solar System, the formation of its planets, and the origins of life on Earth.
Since the spacecraft established orbit around the asteroid, it has witnessed some interesting phenomena. This includes the first-ever close-up observations of particle plumes erupting from an asteroid’s surface. Since that time, the mission team has kept an eye out for these eruptions, which has allowed them to witness a total of 11 “ejection events” since the spacecraft first arrived.
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The asteroid Bennu, as imaged by OSIRIS-REx from a distance of about 80 km. Image Credit: NASA/University of Arizona
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has reached its destination and is now in orbit around asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft travelled for over two years and covered more than 2 billion kms. It will spend a year in orbit, surveying the surface of the Potentially Hazardous Object (PHO) before settling on a location for the key phase of its mission: a sample return to Earth.
Image of the Earth-Moon system, taken by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on Jan. 17th 2018. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin
On September 8th. 2016, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) launched from Earth to rendezvous with the asteroid 101955 Bennu. This mission will be the first American robotic spacecraft to rendezvous with an asteroid, which it will reach by December of 2018, and return samples to Earth for analysis (by September 24th, 2023).
Since that time, NASA has been keeping the public apprised of the mission’s progress, mainly by sending back images taken by the spacecraft. The latest image was one of the Earth and Moon, which the spacecraft took using its NavCam 1 imager on January 17th, 2018. As part of an engineering test, this image shows just how far the probe has ventured from Earth.
Image of the Earth-Moon system, taken by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on Jan. 17th 2018. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin
The image was taken when the spacecraft was at a distance of 63.6 million km (39.5 million mi) from the Earth and Moon. When the camera acquired the image, the spacecraft was moving at a speed of 8.5 km per second (19,000 mph) away from Earth. Earth can be seen in the center of the image as the brightest of the two spots while the smaller, dimmer Moon appears to the right.
Several constellations are also visible in the surrounding space, including the Pleiades cluster in the upper left corner. Hamal, the brightest star in Aries, is also visible in the upper right corner of the image. Meanwhile, the Earth-Moon system is nestled between the five stars that make up the head of Cetus the Whale.
This is merely the latest in a string of photographs that show how far OSIRIS-REx has ventured from Earth. On October 2nd, 2017, the probe’s MapCam instrument took a series of images of the Earth and Moon while the probe was at a distance of 5 million km (3 million mi) – about 13 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. NASA then created a composite image to create a lovely view of the Earth-Moon system (see below).
The Earth-Moon system, as imaged by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. Credit: NASA/OSIRIS-REx team and the University of Arizona
On September 22nd, 2017, the probe also snapped a “Blue Marble” image of Earth (seen below) while it was at a distance of just 170,000 km (106,000 mi). The image was captured just a few hours after OSIRIS-REx had completed its critical Earth Gravity Assist (EGA) maneuver, which slung it around the Earth and on its way towards the asteroid Bennu for its scheduled rendezvous in December of 2018.
On both of these occasions, the images were taken by the probe’s MapCam instrument, a medium-range camera designed to capture images of outgassing around Bennu and help map its surface in color. The NavCam 1 instrument, by contrast, is a grayscale imager that is part of Touch-And-Go Camera System (TAGCAMS) navigation camera suite.
A color composite image of Earth taken on Sept. 22, 2017 by the MapCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft just hours after the spacecraft completed its Earth Gravity Assist at a range of approximately 106,000 miles (170,000 kilometers). Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
The design, construction and testing of this instrument was carried out by Malin Space Science Systems, and Lockheed Martin is responsible for its operation. By the time OSIRIS-REx begins to approach asteroid Bennu in December of 2018, we can expect that the probes cameras will once again be busy.
However, by this time, they will be turned towards its destination. As it nears Bennu, its cameras will need to be calibrated yet again by snapping images of the asteroid on approach. And we, the public, can expect that more beautiful composite images will be shared as a result.
