NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft adjusted its course to make sure the successful return of an asteroid sample to Earth on September 24, before heading to its next objective at asteroid Apophis.
On September 10, NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly fired its ACS (attitude control system) thrusters to point itself toward Earth, putting it on course to launch its sample capsule, bring rocks and dust from asteroid Bennu, from 63,000 miles (or 102,000 kilometers) above Earths surface on Sunday, Sept. 24.
Yesterdays trajectory-correction maneuver altered the spacecrafts speed about a 1/2 miles per hour (less than 1 kph) relative to Earth. Without this small but vital shift, the spacecraft and its asteroid cargo would have flown past Earth.
This graphic reveals the Earth return trajectory for the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and for the sample capsule, after the spacecraft releases it above Earth on September 24. The yellow diamonds suggest the dates of spacecraft maneuvers that somewhat change its trajectory to get it closer, and then pointing at, and after that above Earth. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center
And now, the spacecraft is set up to launch the capsule to enter the atmosphere just off the coast of California at 8:42 a.m. MDT/ 10:42 a.m. EDT.
This graphic reveals the Earth return trajectory for the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and for the sample capsule, after the spacecraft launches it above Earth on September 24. The yellow diamonds indicate the dates of spacecraft maneuvers that somewhat change its trajectory to get it closer, and then pointing at, and then above Earth. After nearly five years in area, NASAs OSIRIS-REx fired its main engines at full throttle for seven minutes on May 10, 2021, to send it on its way back to Earth with an abundance of rocks and dust from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu.
Traveling at a precise speed and angle, it will land roughly 13 minutes after release in a 36-mile by 8.5-mile (58-kilometer by 14-kilometer) fixed location on the Department of Defenses Utah Test and Training Range southwest of Salt Lake City.
Meanwhile, about 20 minutes after launching the sample capsule, the spacecraft will fire its engines to divert past Earth and onto its next mission to asteroid Apophis: OSIRIS-APEX (OSIRIS-Apophis Explorer).
If engineers figure out that one last change to its trajectory is required before it launches its pill a week later, osiris-rex might fire its thrusters again on September 17.
The spacecraft is currently 4 million miles, or 7 million kilometers, away, traveling at about 14,000 miles per hour (about 23,000 kph) towards Earth.
Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab/SVS
Launched on September 8, 2016, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reached its target, asteroid Bennu, on December 3, 2018. After extensive mapping and practice runs, OSIRIS-REx successfully gathered a sample from Bennus surface throughout the “Touch-And-Go” (TAG) maneuver on October 20, 2020. After almost 5 years in area, NASAs OSIRIS-REx fired its primary engines at full throttle for seven minutes on May 10, 2021, to send it on its method back to Earth with an abundance of rocks and dust from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. It will return the very first U.S. asteroid sample, an estimated 8.8 ounces of rocky product, to Earth on September 24.