NASA’S OSIRIS-REX

Question 1

What will OSIRIS-REX mission will do?

Answer 1

• Characterize and collect a sample from asteroid called Bennu
• Help scientists better determine the orbit of asteroid to provide more conclusive data on what kind of threat it represents and predict probability of it impacting earth in future.
• gain knowledge about asteroids composition ->that could give clue about how planets formed & how life began.

Question 2

What is Bennu?

Answer 2

smallest object ever to be circled by a human-made spaceship

Question 3

What is significance of mission?

Answer 3

-first-ever US mission designed to visit an
asteroid and return a sample of its dust back to Earth. .

-5,600 crores unmanned spaceship

Question 4

What is the process of collecting sample?How will it be done?

Answer 4

• Five scientific instruments will be used to decide spot to take sample from
• robotic arm will be used to touch the asteroid described as a “gentle high-five.”
• Using a circular device & a reverse vacuum to stir up and collect dust

Question 5

Timeline of mission?

Answer 5

• Launch :2016
• Reaching :2018 (will take 19 months to collect data & prepare for sample collection)
• Sample collection :July 2020
• Return to earth :2023

Question 6

What is the mission fullform?To which broad program is it related to?

Answer 6

-OSIRIS-Rex stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith
Explorer.

• third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers program, which previously sent the New
  Horizons spacecraft zooming by Pluto and the Juno spacecraft into orbit around Jupiter

Question 7

Why was Bennu chosen?

Answer 7

-Proximity to Earth:

-Size: Bennu is around 500m in diameter, so rotates
slowly enough to ensure that the regolith(i.e.Regolith is a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock) stays on its surface.

-Composition: primitive asteroid ->hasn’t significantly changed since beginning
of Solar System.
very carbon-rich->may contain organic
molecules, which could have been precursors to life on Earth.

• it is a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA). Every 6 years, Bennu’s
  orbit brings it within 200,000 miles of the Earth, which means it has a high probability of impacting Earth
  in the late 22nd Century.