NASA Probe OSIRIS-REx Will Touch Down On Asteroid Bennu In October to Collect Rock Samples
Scientists hope the mission will help deepen our understanding of how planets formed and life began and provide insight on asteroids that could impact Earth.
NASA's robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-REx will descend to asteroid Bennu's boulder-strewn surface on October 20, after four years.
The spacecraft will be touching down for a few seconds to collect rock and dust samples.
NASA
Scientists hope the mission will help deepen our understanding of how planets formed and life began and provide insight on asteroids that could impact Earth.
"Years of planning and hard work by this team are essentially coming down to putting the TAGSAM (Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) into contact with the surface for just five to 10 seconds," said Mike Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager.
Also Read: Car-Sized Asteroid Which Flew Past Earth Unnoticed By NASA Was Discovered By IIT Bombay Students
NASA has chosen a site called Nightingale, a rocky area 52 feet (16 meters) in diameter, for the spacecraft's robotic arm to attempt to collect a sample, because it holds the greatest amount of unobstructed fine-grained material.
'To ensure that the spacecraft touches down on a safe area that avoids the region¡¯s many boulders, the navigation system is equipped with a hazard map of site Nightingale, which delineates areas within the sample site that could potentially harm the spacecraft', the online report by NASA reads.
The spacecraft, about the size of a large van, will need to touch down in an area about the size of a few parking spots, taking care to avoid surrounding boulders.
Since the spacecraft and Bennu will be approximately 207 million miles (334 million kilometers) from Earth, it will take about 18.5 minutes for signals to travel between them.
Also Read: Asteroid The Size Of A ¡®London Bus¡¯ Set To Fly Within Just 13,000 Miles Of The Earth
NASA
This prevents the live commanding of flight activities, so the spacecraft will need to perform the sequence autonomously.
OSIRIS-REx is supposed to collect at least 2 ounces (57 grams) of Bennu's rocky material to bring back to Earth - the largest sample return from space since the Apollo program.
The spacecraft is scheduled to depart Bennu in 2021 and it will deliver the collected sample to Earth on September 24, 2023.
