The novel year has brought important milepost for two space foreign mission — but only one of them deals in the very selection of the human species .
OSIRIS - REx , NASA ’s asteroid - visit space vehicle , perform its eight - indorsement thruster suntan , place the craft into electron orbit around the asteroid Bennu . Bennu is now the smallest aim a spacecraft has ever orbited , at 1600 feet in diam .
OSIRIS - REx has been en route to Bennu since May 2016 and arrivedearly last calendar month . The spacecraft will now orbit a mile from the sum of the asteroid , accord to an OSIRIS - REx team press discharge .
It ’s grueling study , orbiting such a minuscule thing . As we ’ve write , asteroid have slight and uneven gravitative field of force . And indeed , OSIRIS - REx ’s scientists did n’t have a final sphere fully planned until they make it at Bennu . Since then , the craft flew by the asteroid several times for surveying , before fix for and carry out the interpolation tactic . The OSIRIS - REx squad will need to proceed align the spacecraft to keep it in orbital cavity .
It ’s always exciting to make it at a new solar system object . Two delegacy achieved important milestones this past New Year ’s Eve and Day : OSIRIS male monarch orbited Bennu , and New Horizonsflew bythe Kuiper Belt Object ( 486958 ) 2014 MU69 , dub Ultima Thule , the uttermost object ever explored by a human - built delegacy .
But I ’m more interested in OSIRIS - king , plainly because I live on Earth . Asteroids could hold secrets about the environment in which our own planet form . They might contain valued water or metal that could be utilitarian one day as exploitable resources for infinite traveling . And Bennu is apotentially hazardousobject , mean that its size and future trajectories make it desirable of further study in case it ever threatens the Earth . OSIRIS REx will research these three topic and more .
Science will keep on around Bennu , now from up closely . OSIRIS - REx will represent the asteroid to create 3D models that will help the team set up for 2020 , when the artificial satellite will assay to touch down on the asteroid ’s surface to collect samples . OSIRIS - REx is schedule to return to Earth in 2023 .
asteroidsNASAOSIRIS - RExScienceSpace
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