25-05-2021 | 12:58 PM
OSIRIS-REx: NASA Spacecraft starts a journey to Earth
• NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRISREx) spacecraft will depart asteroid Bennu, and start its two-year-long journey back to Earth.
• OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first mission to visit a near-earth asteroid, survey its surface and collect a sample from it.
About the OSIRIS-Rex:
• OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first mission to visit a near-earth asteroid, survey its surface and collect a sample from it.
• The mission was launched in 2016, it reached its target in 2018 and since then, the spacecraft has been trying to match the velocity of the asteroid using small rocket thrusters.
• It also utilized this time to survey the surface and identify potential sites to take samples.
• In October 2020, the spacecraft briefly touched asteroid Bennu, from where it collected samples of dust and pebbles.
• Once the surface was disturbed, the spacecraft’s robotic arm captured some samples.
NOTE: Bennu is an ancient asteroid, currently more than 200 million miles from Earth. It is about as tall as the Empire State Building (US) and is named after an Egyptian deity.
