This is an artistic illustration of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft firing propulsion devices near the surface of the asteroid Apophis. Credit: Heather Roper
An extended mission called OSIRIS-APEX will study the near-Earth asteroid Apophis, which will have a close encounter with Earth in 2029.
On September 24, 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission will fly past Earth to deliver a sample of the asteroid Bennu. After that, however, it will not go out.
NASA has expanded a mission led by the University of Arizona, which will be renamed OSIRIS-APEX, to study the near-Earth asteroid Apophis for 18 months. Apophis will make close to Earth in 2029.
The mission will be led by the University of Arizona and will make its first voyage to Apophis 30 days after the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivered the sample it collected from Benoit in October 2020. The original mission team will split at this time. with the sample analysis team analyzing the Bennu sample and the spacecraft and instruments team switching to OSIRIS-APEX, which means OSIRIS-Apophis Explorer.
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
Regents Professor of Planetary Science Dante Lauretta will remain the principal investigator of OSIRIS-REx for the remaining two-year phase of returning the sample from the mission. Associate Professor of Planetary Science and Deputy Principal Investigator of OSIRIS-REx Danny Della Justina will become Principal Researcher of OSIRIS-APEX. The expansion adds another $ 200 million to the mission cost cap.
The mission team conducted an in-depth 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 affect the Earth in 2029 as it approached. This risk was removed after subsequent observations, but it will be the closest asteroid of a size that is close to the 50 years that asteroids have been closely tracked, or the next 100 years to 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 it with the naked eye, the closer it will be. We were thrilled to learn that the mission had been extended. “
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid return mission. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
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 make a maneuver similar to the one he did during the sampling at Bennu, 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 the Earth’s gravitational pull as it approaches in 2029.
This illustration shows NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending to the asteroid Bennu to collect a sample from the asteroid’s surface. Credit: NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona
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 from the beginning of 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 of leadership in space exploration. “I can’t be proud of Danny and the APEX team,” said Laureta. “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.
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