{"id":99937,"date":"2020-05-21T11:46:22","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T15:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=99937"},"modified":"2020-05-21T11:46:22","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T15:46:22","slug":"nasas-osiris-rex-spacecraft-officially-ready-for-touchdown-on-asteroid-bennu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=99937","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Officially Ready for Touchdown on Asteroid Bennu"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nNASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending towards asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of the asteroid\u2019s surface. Credit: NASA\/Goddard\/University of Arizona<\/em><\/p>\n

Today’s S&T post is brought to you by NASA, and is showcasing a sample-and-return mission to the asteroid Bennu. Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid in the Apollo group, discovered by the LINEAR Project on 11 September 1999. It is a potentially hazardous object, so there’s that.<\/p>\n

TOPICS: Asteroid NASAN ASA Goddard Space Flight Center OSIRIS-REx<\/h3>\n

By NASA\u2019S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER<\/strong><\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s first asteroid sample return mission is officially prepared for its long-awaited touchdown on asteroid Bennu\u2019s surface. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security \u2013 Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission has targeted October 20, 2020, for its first sample collection attempt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe OSIRIS-REx mission has been demonstrating the very essence of exploration by persevering through unexpected challenges,\u201d said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA\u2019s associate administrator for science. \u201cThat spirit has led them to the cusp of the prize we all are waiting for \u2013 securing a sample of an asteroid to bring home to Earth, and I\u2019m very excited to follow them through the home stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n

From discovering Bennu\u2019s surprisingly rugged and active surface, to entering the closest-ever orbit around a planetary body, OSIRIS-REx has overcome several challenges since arriving at the asteroid in December 2018. Last month, the mission brought the spacecraft 213 ft (65 m) from the asteroid\u2019s surface during its first sample collection rehearsal \u2014 successfully completing a practice run of the activities leading up to the sampling event.<\/p>\n

Now that the mission is ready to collect a sample, the team is facing a different kind of challenge here on Earth. In response to COVID-19 constraints and after the intense preparation for the first rehearsal, the OSIRIS-REx mission has decided to provide its team with additional preparation time for both the final rehearsal and the sample collection event. Spacecraft activities require significant lead time for the development and testing of operations, and given the current requirements that limit in-person participation at the mission support area, the mission would benefit from giving the team additional time to complete these preparations in the new environment. As a result, both the second rehearsal and first sample collection attempt will have two extra months for planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn planning the mission, we included robust schedule margin while at Bennu to provide the flexibility to address unexpected challenges,\u201d said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center. \u201cThis flexibility has allowed us to adapt to the surprises that Bennu has thrown at us. It\u2019s now time to prioritize the health and safety of both team members and the spacecraft.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Interesting. Read the rest of the article here: SciTech Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending towards asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of the asteroid\u2019s surface. Credit: … NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Officially Ready for Touchdown on Asteroid Bennu<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[213,503],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-your-tax-dollars-at-work","category-science-and-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99937"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99939,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99937\/revisions\/99939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}