OSIRIS-REx - Post-Launch
Posted by Joe Pennington on Sep 09, 2016
On about September 8, 2016 a University-of-Arizona-led mission has been launched with a destination of a nearby asteroid named Bennu. Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid of interest for the organic materials associated with this class; it may give us clues to the formation of the solar system and the origin of life on Earth. The goal of the mission is to examine the asteroid, find the most interesting surface material, touch down and collect a “handful.” On returning to Earth in 2023, the spacecraft releases and safely lands a capsule containing the pristine asteroid sample for examination in our laboratories.
The science team will be responsible for analyzing the returned images and mapping the asteroid to identify scientifically interesting sites for the sampling maneuver. The 3-component camera suite has been designed, built and tested here at the UA. Furthermore, the mission will be operated during its 7 years in space from the Drake building on Sixth Avenue, the same facility where the Phoenix Mars Mission was managed.
Dr. Peter Smith describes the extraordinary NASA mission and what it means for the UA and Tucson.
Biography - Dr. Peter Smith
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