Transcript of To Bennu and Back: OSIRIS-REx Mission Overview

osiris-rex is a NASA mission to explore near-earth asteroid Bennu a remnant from the dawn of the solar system and to return a sample of been new to earth on September 8th 2016 osiris-rex began its journey to Benner from Cape Canaveral Florida aboard an Atlas 5 rocket it lifted off shortly before sunset climbing eastward over the Atlantic Ocean to traverse the night side of Earth one hour later osiris-rex separated from its Centaur upper stage rocket and drifted into space it deployed its solar arrays to catch the Rising Sun and made a final pass over Australia before embarking on its outbound cruise to Bannu after a year in orbit around the Sun osiris-rex briefly returned to earth in September 2017 for a gravity assist the spacecraft passed within 18,000 kilometers of Antarctica then turned its instrument deck toward home to capture images and spectra of the earth in the moon the gravity assist bent the trajectory of osiris-rex by 6 degrees matching the orbital tilt of venue and sending the spacecraft on a path to catch its target in August 2018 osiris-rex began its approach phase its long-range camera captured the first visible light images of Ben who is a single pixel moving across a field of stars over the following months Ben who grew from a pixel into a world with osiris-rex revealing its shape rotation and color for the first time now after chasing its target for over two years osiris-rex is arriving at asteroid Bennu on December 3rd it will fire its thrusters to match Ben whose velocity and begin its preliminary survey osiris-rex will pass high above the equator and the poles measuring venez position and mass and refining its size shape and spin on New Year's Eve osiris-rex will venture close enough to Ben who to be captured into orbit by its miniscule gravity making it the smallest world ever to be orbited by a spacecraft in early 2019 osiris-rex will break orbit to conduct a detailed survey of Benno first it will carry out a mapping campaign called the baseball diamond by observing Vento at different latitudes and times of day osiris-rex will capture stereo images and identify large rocks on the surface that could pose a hazard later in the mission in its second mapping campaign osiris-rex will observe Benno from 7 different stations around its equator at each station it will take measurements from pole to pole using its mapping camera laser altimeter and two spectrometers the combined data will provide a detailed look at venues geologic features and its composition this will improve landmark bastes navigation and enable mission planners to begin looking for places to collect a sample following the detailed survey osiris-rex will once again enter orbit at a radius of only one kilometer orbital B will serve as the mission safe home orbit until sample collection during this phase osiris-rex will globally map Benno it will fly in a polar orbit as the asteroid rotates beneath enabling full coverage of the surface orbital bees precession or wobble will also be used to measure vanHoose gravity field along with the non-gravitational forces that are slowly altering the news trajectory in mid 2019 osiris-rex will begin its reconnaissance phase it will break orbit and fly over for candidate sample sites at 225 metres taking high-resolution images flying at such close proximity will reveal large pebbles that could pose a hazard during sample collection mission planners will use this information to select the two best sites for additional inspection at a range of 525 meters osiris-rex will fly over the two final candidate sites spectrally mapping the surface to reveal its chemical composition this information will help mission planners determine the most valuable site for collecting the sample once the final site has been selected osiris-rex will begin its rehearsal phase first it will practice autonomous flight to a predetermined a check point where it will start its descent during sample collection next osiris-rex will practice flying to the match point the spacecraft will lower to within 30 metres of the surface to match Ben whose speed and rotation a necessity for safely touching the asteroid finally in mid 2020s I reck swill be ready to collect a sample of Benno before it descends to the surface the spacecraft will deploy its touch-and-go sample acquisition mechanism or tag Sam a new technology invented for the mission when it reaches the Check Point osiris-rex will begin its final descent it will pull back its solar arrays for safety and approach the surface at centimeters per second the walking pace of an insect as the tag Sam touches down it will blow high-pressure nitrogen gas into the soil stirring up loose material a filter within the sample head will trap rocks and dirt while allowing the gas to escape to space once the sample is collected osiris-rex will fire its thrusters and back away from venue retreating to a safe distance with its precious cargo following collection osiris-rex will verify the status of the sample using a camera called Sam cam this visual inspection will reveal whether any large debris is still attached to the sample head which could pose a hazard during stowage next osiris-rex will verify the mass of the sample it will fully extend its tanks am armed and perform a spin maneuver measuring the change in inertia to determine the samples mass if at least 60 grams have been collected in the sample head is clear of hazardous debris mission planners will command the spacecraft to stow the sample stow cam will watch closely as the sample head enters the return capsule and is secured in place osiris-rex will then detach the tag Sam arm from the head seal the sample return capsule and prepare for its journey back to earth after departing from Benno in early 2021 osiris-rex will return to Earth in late 2023 4 hours prior to arrival the spacecraft will release the sample return capsule then deflect away from Earth to its final orbit as its piece of been who comes home the capsule will enter the atmosphere over the night side of Earth streaking towards the central California coastline at over 12 km/s west of the Great Salt Lake at an altitude of approximately 33 kilometers the capsule will initiate its parachute sequence stabilizing and slowing its descent upon landing in the Utah desert the sample will be recovered carefully removed from the capsule and taken to the osiris-rex curation facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas this pristine material from the early solar system will be studied for decades to come providing clues to the formation of the planets to the evolution of Earth into the ingredients that were present at the origins of life [Music]