28/07/2016
-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
's Marshall Space Flight Center
's Johnson Space Center 's Goddard Space Flight Cente
The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer spacecraft will travel to a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36), and bring at least a 2.1-ounce sample back to Earth for study. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.
OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to launch Sept. 8, 2016, at 7:05 p.m. EDT. As planned, the spacecraft will reach its asteroid target in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023.
OSIRIS-REx will
orbit the sun for a year, then use Earth’s gravitational
field to assist it on its way to Bennu. In August 2018, OSIRIS-REx’s approach to Bennu will begin. It will use an array of small rocket thrusters to match the
velocity of Bennu and rendezvous with the asteroid.
The spacecraft will begin a detailed survey of Bennu two months after slowing to encounter Bennu.
The process will last over a year, and, as part of it,
OSIRIS-REx will map potential sample sites.
