This is an artistic illustration of the spacecraft OSIRIS-REx, which fires with propulsion devices near the surface of the asteroid Apophis. Credit: Heather Roper
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will orbit the Earth to deliver a sample of the asteroid Benu on September 24, 2023. But it will not go out after that.
NASA has expanded the mission, led by the University of Arizona, to be renamed OSIRIS-APEX to study the near-Earth asteroid Apophis for 18 months. Apophis will make close to Earth in 2029.
The University of Arizona will lead the mission, which will make its first maneuver to Apophis 30 days after the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivered the sample it collected from Benoit in October 2020. At this point, the original mission team will split – the sample team for analysis will analyze the Bennu sample as the spacecraft team and instruments move to OSIRIS-APEX, short for OSIRIS-Apophis Explorer.
Regents Professor of Planetary Science Dante Laureta will remain the principal investigator of OSIRIS-REx for the remaining two-year phase of the sample return from the mission. OSIRIS-REx Assistant Planetary Science Assistant and Deputy Principal Investigator Danny Della Justina will become OSIRIS-APEX Principal Investigator. The expansion adds another $ 200 million to the mission cost cap.
The mission team conducted a comprehensive search for potential asteroid targets. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was created for what is called a rendezvous mission, which means that instead of taking a single flight over an object and quickly taking pictures and collecting data, it is designed to “get to know the object closely and in person. “. Said Della Justina. “Our spaceship is really phenomenal in that.”
“Apophis is one of the most scandalous asteroids,” said Della Justina. “When it was first discovered in 2004, there were fears that it would hit Earth in 2029 as it approached. This risk was eliminated after subsequent observations, but this will be the closest asteroid of the size it came close to in the 1950s, or so the asteroids have been closely monitored for years or for the next 100 years asteroids we have discovered so far. It reaches one tenth of the distance between the Earth and the Moon during the meeting in 2029. People in Europe and Africa will be able to see with the naked eye, that’s how close it will be. We were thrilled to learn that the mission had been extended. “
Image scientists Daton Golish created this simulated image of the near-Earth asteroid Apophis in the APEX camera, based on a shape model produced by Marina Brozovic of JPL and her colleagues. Credit: UArizona / JPL / Arecibo
OSIRIS-REx launched in 2016 to collect a sample from Bennu that will help scientists learn about the formation of the solar system and the Earth as an habitable planet. OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first mission to collect and return a sample from a near-Earth asteroid.
OSIRIS-APEX will not collect a sample, but when it reaches Apophis, it will study the asteroid for 18 months and collect data along the way. He will also perform a maneuver similar to the one he took during sampling in Benoit, approaching the surface and firing his pushers. This event will reveal the asteroid’s subsurface to allow mission scientists to learn more about the asteroid’s material properties.
Scientists also want to study how the asteroid will be physically affected by gravitational pull on Earth as it approaches 2029.
They also want to know more about the composition of the asteroid. Apophis is about the same size as Bennu – nearly 1,000 feet at its longest point – but differs in what is called the spectral type. Bennu is a B-type asteroid associated with carbon chondritic meteorites, while Apophis is an S-type asteroid associated with ordinary chondritic meteorites.
“The OSIRIS-REx mission has already achieved so much first, and I am proud that it will continue to teach us about the origins of our solar system,” said Robert K. Robbins, president of the University of Arizona. “The OSIRIS-APEX mission extension keeps the University of Arizona at the helm as one of the world’s leading institutions for the study of small spacecraft and is once again demonstrating our incredible space science capabilities.”
DellaGiustina is also excited that the mission provides an excellent opportunity for early-stage scientists to pursue professional development. OSIRIS-REx veterans will work closely with these scientists early in their careers as mentors in the early stages of the mission. By the time the spacecraft arrives in Apophis, the next generation will take the lead in OSIRIS-APEX.
“OSIRIS-APEX is a manifestation of the main goal of our mission to enable the next generation to be a leader in space exploration. “I can’t be proud of Danny and the APEX team,” Loretta said. “Danny first started working with us in 2005 as a student. Seeing her take over the mission to the asteroid Apophis shows the extraordinary educational opportunities at the University of Arizona.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx completes final tour of asteroid Bennu Courtesy of the University of Arizona
Citation: NASA gives the green light for the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to visit another asteroid (2022, April 26), retrieved on April 26, 2022
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