This is an artists illustration of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft shooting thrusters near the surface of the asteroid Apophis. Credit: Heather Roper
The prolonged mission, dubbed OSIRIS-APEX, will study the near-Earth asteroid Apophis, which will have a close encounter with Earth in 2029.
On September 24, 2023, NASAs OSIRIS-REx mission will zip Earth to provide a sample from the asteroid Bennu. However, it will not clock out after that.
NASA has actually extended the University of Arizona-led objective, which will be renamed OSIRIS-APEX, to take a look at the near-Earth asteroid Apophis for 18 months. Apophis will make a close approach to Earth in 2029.
The objective will be led by the University of Arizona, and it will make its very first approach Apophis 30 days after the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivers the sample it gathered from Bennu in October 2020. The initial objective group will divide at that point, with the sample analysis team evaluating the Bennu sample and the spacecraft and instrument team transitioning to OSIRIS-APEX, which represents OSIRIS-Apophis Explorer.
Imaging scientists Dathon Golish developed this simulated image of the view of near-Earth asteroid Apophis in the APEX electronic camera, based on a shape design produced by JPLs Marina Brozović and her associates. Credit: UArizona/JPL/Arecibo
Regents Professor of Planetary Sciences Dante Lauretta will stay the primary investigator of OSIRIS-REx through the staying two-year sample return phase of the objective. Planetary sciences assistant teacher and OSIRIS-REx deputy principal detective Dani DellaGiustina will then become the principal investigator of OSIRIS-APEX. The extension adds another $200 million to the mission cost cap.
The mission team performed an extensive search for prospective asteroid targets. “Our spacecraft is actually sensational at that.”
” Apophis is one of the most notorious asteroids,” DellaGiustina said. That threat was retired after subsequent observations, but it will be the closest an asteroid of this size has gotten in the 50 or so years asteroids have been closely tracked, or for the next 100 years of asteroids we have actually found so far. We were stired to discover out the mission was extended.”
NASAs OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight
OSIRIS-REx was launched in 2016 to gather a sample from Bennu that will help scientists learn more about the development of the solar system and Earth as a habitable planet. OSIRIS-REx is the first NASA objective to collect and return a sample from a near-Earth asteroid.
OSIRIS-APEX will not gather a sample, however when it reaches Apophis, it will study the asteroid for 18 months and collect data along the way. It also will make a maneuver comparable to the one it made throughout sample collection at Bennu, by approaching the surface area and firing its thrusters. This occasion will expose the asteroids subsurface, to allow objective scientists to read more about the asteroids material residential or commercial properties.
The researchers also desire to investigate how the asteroid will be physically affected by Earths gravitational pull during its close approach in 2029.
This illustration reveals NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft coming down towards asteroid Bennu to gather a sample of the asteroids surface. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
They also want to discover more about the composition of the asteroid. Apophis has to do with the very same size as Bennu– nearly 1000 feet at its longest point– however it varies in whats called its spectral type. Bennu is a B-type asteroid connected to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, whereas Apophis is an S-type asteroid connected to common chondrite meteorites.
” The OSIRIS-REx objective has actually already achieved numerous firsts and I am happy it will continue to teach us about the origins of our solar system,” said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. “The OSIRIS-APEX objective extension keeps the University of Arizona in the lead as one of the premier organizations in the world to study little bodies with spacecraft and demonstrates again our unbelievable capability in space sciences.”
DellaGiustina is also thrilled that the objective supplies an excellent opportunity for early-career researchers to get professional advancement. OSIRIS-REx veterans will work carefully with these early profession scientists as coaches in the early objective stages. By the time the spacecraft comes to Apophis, the next generation will step into management functions on OSIRIS-APEX.
” OSIRIS-APEX is a symptom of a core objective of our objective to enable the next generation of leadership in space exploration. I couldnt be prouder of Dani and the APEX group,” Lauretta said. “Dani initially started working with us in 2005 as an undergraduate student. To see her take on the management of the mission to asteroid Apophis demonstrates the outstanding educational chances at the University of Arizona.”
The mission team carried out a comprehensive search for possible asteroid targets. That risk was retired after subsequent observations, but it will be the closest an asteroid of this size has actually gotten in the 50 or so years asteroids have been closely tracked, or for the next 100 years of asteroids we have actually found so far. This occasion will expose the asteroids subsurface, to enable mission scientists to learn more about the asteroids product properties.
Bennu is a B-type asteroid connected to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, whereas Apophis is an S-type asteroid connected to regular chondrite meteorites.
To see her take on the leadership of the mission to asteroid Apophis shows the impressive educational opportunities at the University of Arizona.”