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On Aug. 17, 2018 NASA’s OSIRIS-REx
spacecraft obtained the first images of its target asteroid Bennu from a
distance of 1.4 million miles (2.2 million km), or almost
six times the distance between the Earth and Moon. This cropped set of five
images was obtained by the PolyCam camera over the
course of an hour for calibration purposes and in order to assist the mission’s
navigation team with optical navigation efforts. Bennu is visible as a moving
object against the stars in the constellation Serpens. Credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
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Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com -- 30 August 2018
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Nearly two years after blasting off from Florida’s NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex asteroid sampling spacecraft recently captured its first glimpse of target asteroid Bennu last week and began the final approach toward its target.
On Aug. 17, the spacecraft’s PolyCam camera obtained the images of Bennu from a distance of 1.4 million miles (2.2 million km) - almost six times the distance between the Earth and Moon.
See the GIF above which was created from 5 images taken by PolyCam camera over an hour.
Bennu is visible as a moving object with the stars in the constellation Serpens as background.
OSIRIS-Rex, which stands for the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, has journeyed approximately 1.1 billion miles (1.8 billion km) since its Sept. 8, 2016, launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
OSIRIS-Rex counts as NASA’s first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid, survey the surface, collect a sample and deliver it safely back to Earth.
It is scheduled to arrive at Bennu in about three months on Dec. 3, 2018.
“Now that OSIRIS-REx is close enough to observe Bennu, the mission team will spend the next few months learning as much as possible about Bennu’s size, shape, surface features, and surroundings before the spacecraft arrives at the asteroid,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson, in a statement.
After spending so long planning for this moment, I can’t wait to see what Bennu reveals to us.”
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Nearly two years after blasting off from Florida’s NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex asteroid sampling spacecraft recently captured its first glimpse of target asteroid Bennu last week and began the final approach toward its target.
On Aug. 17, the spacecraft’s PolyCam camera obtained the images of Bennu from a distance of 1.4 million miles (2.2 million km) - almost six times the distance between the Earth and Moon.
See the GIF above which was created from 5 images taken by PolyCam camera over an hour.
Bennu is visible as a moving object with the stars in the constellation Serpens as background.
OSIRIS-Rex, which stands for the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, has journeyed approximately 1.1 billion miles (1.8 billion km) since its Sept. 8, 2016, launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
OSIRIS-Rex counts as NASA’s first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid, survey the surface, collect a sample and deliver it safely back to Earth.
It is scheduled to arrive at Bennu in about three months on Dec. 3, 2018.
“Now that OSIRIS-REx is close enough to observe Bennu, the mission team will spend the next few months learning as much as possible about Bennu’s size, shape, surface features, and surroundings before the spacecraft arrives at the asteroid,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson, in a statement.
After spending so long planning for this moment, I can’t wait to see what Bennu reveals to us.”
The PolyCam images will also be used “for
calibration purposes and in order to assist the mission’s navigation team with
optical navigation efforts,” says NASA.
Thus begins the probes asteroid operations phase which will include snatching samples of the asteroid for eventual return to Earth via a Sample Return Capsule in Sept. 2023.
OSIRIS-Rex science payload is comprised of is equipped with a trio of
science instruments as well as a sampling arm: the OCAMS camera suite (PolyCam, MapCam, and SamCam), the OTES
thermal spectrometer, the OVIRS visible and infrared spectrometer, the OLA
laser altimeter, and the REXIS x-ray spectrometer.
Thus begins the probes asteroid operations phase which will include snatching samples of the asteroid for eventual return to Earth via a Sample Return Capsule in Sept. 2023.
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OSIRIS-Rex
spacecraft in KSC cleanroom prior to launch. Credit: Ken
Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Here are further details from NASA:
During the mission’s approach phase, OSIRIS-REx
will:
· regularly observe the area around the asteroid to search for dust plumes and natural satellites, and study Bennu’s light and spectral properties;
· execute a series of four asteroid approach maneuvers, beginning on Oct. 1, slowing the spacecraft to match Bennu's orbit around the Sun;
· jettison the protective cover of the spacecraft’s sampling arm in mid-October and subsequently extend and image the arm for the first time in flight; and
· use OCAMS to reveal the asteroid’s overall shape in late-October and begin detecting Bennu’s surface features in mid-November.
After arrival at Bennu, the spacecraft will spend the first month performing flybys of Bennu’s north pole, equator and south pole, at distances ranging between 11.8 and 4.4 miles (19 and 7 km) from the asteroid. These maneuvers will allow for the first direct measurement of Bennu’s mass as well as close-up observations of the surface. These trajectories will also provide the mission's navigation team with experience navigating near the asteroid.
“Bennu’s low gravity provides a unique challenge for the mission," said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "At roughly 0.3 miles [500 meters] in diameter, Bennu will be the smallest object that any spacecraft has ever orbited.”
· regularly observe the area around the asteroid to search for dust plumes and natural satellites, and study Bennu’s light and spectral properties;
· execute a series of four asteroid approach maneuvers, beginning on Oct. 1, slowing the spacecraft to match Bennu's orbit around the Sun;
· jettison the protective cover of the spacecraft’s sampling arm in mid-October and subsequently extend and image the arm for the first time in flight; and
· use OCAMS to reveal the asteroid’s overall shape in late-October and begin detecting Bennu’s surface features in mid-November.
After arrival at Bennu, the spacecraft will spend the first month performing flybys of Bennu’s north pole, equator and south pole, at distances ranging between 11.8 and 4.4 miles (19 and 7 km) from the asteroid. These maneuvers will allow for the first direct measurement of Bennu’s mass as well as close-up observations of the surface. These trajectories will also provide the mission's navigation team with experience navigating near the asteroid.
“Bennu’s low gravity provides a unique challenge for the mission," said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "At roughly 0.3 miles [500 meters] in diameter, Bennu will be the smallest object that any spacecraft has ever orbited.”
The spacecraft will extensively survey the
asteroid before the mission team identifies two possible sample sites. Close
examination of these sites will allow the team to pick one for sample
collection, scheduled for early July 2020. After sample collection, the
spacecraft will head back toward Earth before ejecting the Sample Return
Capsule for landing in the Utah desert in Sept. 2023.
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Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
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