1.
OSIRIS-REx: The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer is a NASA asteroid study and sample return mission
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2. OSIRIS-REx seeks answers to the questions:
Mission:
OSIRIS-REx seeks answers to the questions:
Where did we come from?
What is our destiny?
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3. OSIRIS-REx’s key science objectives include: Map the asteroid
Return and analyze a sample of the asteroid’s surface
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4. The spacecraft:
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5. INSTRUMENTS: http://www.asteroidmission.org/objectives/ Next Slide
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6. Scientists chose Bennu as the target of the OSIRIS-REx mission because of its composition, size, and proximity to Earth.
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7. BENNU FACTS: Equatorial Diameter: ~500 meters
Polar Diameter: ~510 meters
Average Speed: 63,000 mph
Rotation Period: 4.3 hours
Orbital Period: 1.2 years
Orbital Inclination: 6 degrees
Earth Approach: Bennu comes close to Earth every 6 years
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8. Sample collection: July 2020
Launch: September 2016
Sample collection: July 2020
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Return to Earth: September 2023
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12. OSIRIS-Rex acronym:
O – Origins: Return and analyze a sample of a pristine carbon-rich asteroid to study the nature, history, and distribution of its minerals and organic material.
SI – Spectral Interpretation: Define the global properties of a primitive carbon-rich asteroid to allow for direct comparison with existing ground-based telescopic data for all asteroids.
RI – Resource Identification: Map the global properties, chemistry, mineralogy of a primitive carbon-rich asteroid to define its geologic and dynamic history and provide context for the returned sample.
S – Security: Measure the Yarkovsky Effect (a force caused by the emission of heat from a rotating asteroid that can change its orbit over time) on a potentially hazardous asteroid and learn which asteroid properties contribute to this effect.
REx – Regolith Explorer: Document the texture, morphology, geochemistry, and spectral properties of the regolith (surface material) at the sampling site.
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13. Mission:
OSIRIS-REx seeks answers to the questions: Where did we come from? What is our destiny?
Asteroids can answer these questions and teach us about the history of the Sun and planets.
As the primitive, leftover building blocks of the solar system formation process, comets and asteroids offer clues to the chemical mixture from which the planets formed some 4.6 billion years ago. If we wish to know the composition of the primordial mixture from which the planets formed, then we must determine the chemical constituents of the leftover debris from this formation process - the comets and asteroids.
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14. OSIRIS-REx’s key science objectives include:
Return and analyze a sample of pristine carbonaceous asteroid regolith to study the nature, history, and distribution of its constituent minerals and organic material.
Map the asteroid’s global properties, chemistry, and mineralogy to characterize its geologic and dynamic history and provide context for the returned samples.
Document the texture, morphology, geochemistry, and spectral properties of the regolith at the sampling site in situ at scales down to millimeters.
Measure the Yarkovsky effect (a thermal force on the object) on a potentially hazardous asteroid and constrain the asteroid properties that contribute to this effect.
Compare observations at the asteroid to ground-
based telescopic data of the entire asteroid population.
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15. Spacecraft Specifications:
Length: ft. (6.2 m) with
solar panels deployed
Width: 8 ft. (2.4 m) x 8 ft. (2.4 m)
Height: ft. (3.2 m)
TAGSAM Length: 11 ft. (3.4 m)
Dry Mass (unfueled): 1,940 lbs. (880 kg)
Wet Mass (fueled): 4,650 lbs. (2,110 kg)
Power: Two solar panels totaling 91 ft² (8.5 m²) generate between 1,226 and 3,000 watts, depending on the spacecraft’s distance from the Sun.
Payload: Five science instruments, the TAGSAM, and the SRC allow the spacecraft to gather data, collect a sample, and safely return it to Earth.
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16. Sample Collection and Return:
INSTRUMENTS:
Science Payload:
The OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS) (PolyCam, MapCam, SamCam)
The OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA)
The OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES)
The OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS)
The student experiment Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS)
Sample Collection and Return:
The Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition
Mechanism (TAGSAM)
The OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule (SRC)
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17. Scientists chose Bennu as the target of the OSIRIS-REx mission because of its composition, size, and proximity to Earth. Bennu is a rare B-type asteroid (primitive and carbon-rich), which is expected to have organic compounds and water-bearing minerals like clays.
Bennu is named after the Egyptian mythological bird that is said to have played a role in the
creation
of the
world.
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18. OSIRIS-REx launched on September 8, 2016 at 7:05 PM EDT from Cape Canaveral, Florida on an Atlas V rocket in the 411 configuration.
Approach begins when Bennu is just a point of light more than 2 million km away from the spacecraft, in August 2018.
In July 2020, once the sample site is selected, OSIRIS-REx will move into position to collect a sample of Bennu's surface material.
OSIRIS-REx will come in for a soft landing in the Utah desert on Sept. 24, 2023, concluding a seven year journey to Bennu and back.
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