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OSIRIS-REx spacecraft starts its two-year-long journey back to Earth.
About OSIRIS-REx
- It is the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36) and return it to Earth for study.
- Scientists will use the asteroid samples to study the formation of the solar system and of habitable planets such as Earth.
- Analyzing the sample will help scientists understand the early solar system, as well as the hazards and resources of near-Earth space.
- It was built by Lockheed Martin and launched in 2016.
- The spacecraft contains five instruments meant to explore Bennu including cameras, a spectrometer and a laser altimeter.
Objectives
The OSIRIS-REx name is an acronym of the mission objectives, which are:
- Origins: Return and analyze a pristine carbon-rich asteroid sample.
- Spectral Interpretation: Provide ground truth or direct observations for telescopic data of the entire asteroid population.
- Resource Identification: Map the chemistry and mineralogy of a primitive carbon-rich asteroid.
- Security: Measure the effect of sunlight on the orbit of a small asteroid, known as the “Yarkovsky effect” – the slight push created when the asteroid absorbs sunlight and re-emits that energy as heat.
- Regolith Explorer: Document the regolith (layer of loose, outer material) at the sampling site at scales down to the sub-centimetre.
Sample Collection and Return
- Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) – an articulated robotic arm with a sampler head to collect a sample of Bennu’s surface.
- OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule (SRC) – a capsule with a heat shield and parachutes through which the spacecraft will return the asteroid sample to Earth.
Image Courtesy: CSA
Achievements
- The spacecraft found traces of hydrogen and oxygen molecules – part of the recipe for water and thus the potential for life – embedded in the asteroid’s rocky surface.
- In October 2020, the spacecraft briefly touched asteroid Bennu, from where it collected samples of dust and pebbles.
- A sample of primordial rock is now on its way to Earth, where scientists will analyze it to learn about the origins of our solar system and life on Earth.
- When the spacecraft finally returns in September 2023, it will bring back the largest sample collected by a NASA mission since the Apollo astronauts collected samples of Moonrock.
Asteroids
Image Courtesy: Socratic Asteroid Bennu
Near Earth Object (NEO)
Comets
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Sources: IE
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