OSIRIS-REx to Return Bits of Asteroid Bennu to Earth on Sunday

OSIRIS-REx left Earth for a meet and greet with near Earth Asteroid Bennu in 2016 with the intension of grabbing a bit of it to return home , it successfully collected its sample in 2020 then started heading for home with the loot in 2021 , now the 7 year sample collection mission draws to a close as on Sunday the sample return capsule is due to return to Earth full of lovely bits of the early Solar System , following the drop off OSIRIS-REx will be renamed OSIRIS-APEX and redeployed to go and play with Asteroid Apophis which is already on its way to Earth and due to make a close pass in 2029.

Yesterday’s trajectory-correction maneuver changed the spacecraft’s velocity about a ½ mph (less than 1 kph) relative to Earth. Without this tiny but critical shift, the spacecraft and its asteroid cargo would have flown past Earth.

But now, the spacecraft is set up to release the capsule to enter the atmosphere just off the coast of California at 8:42 a.m. MDT / 10:42 a.m. EDT.

Traveling at a precise speed and angle, it will land approximately 13 minutes after release in a 36-mile by 8.5-mile (58-kilometer by 14-kilometer) predetermined area on the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range southwest of Salt Lake City.

Meanwhile, about 20 minutes after releasing 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).

OSIRIS-REx may fire its thrusters again on Sept. 17 if engineers determine that one final adjustment to its trajectory is necessary before it releases its capsule a week later.

The spacecraft is currently 4 million miles, or 7 million kilometers, away, traveling at about 14,000 mph (about 23,000 kph) toward Earth.
blogs.nasa.gov...

There are no plans for OSIRIS-REx to play dirty with Apophis just orbit the Asteroid for 18 months before manoeuvring closer so it can fire its thrusters to try and dislodge material from Apophis to be analysed by the spacecraft.

a reply to: gortex

Hopefully it ushers in a new era, the space zombie apocalypse.

Next movie "Bennu Strain".

originally posted by: gortex
...

But now, the spacecraft is set up to release the capsule to enter the atmosphere just off the coast of California at 8:42 a.m. MDT / 10:42 a.m. EDT.

Traveling at a precise speed and angle, it will land approximately 13 minutes after release in a 36-mile by 8.5-mile (58-kilometer by 14-kilometer) predetermined area on the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range southwest of Salt Lake City.

Let me guess. There will be some technical problem and the landing will be redirected to Area 52 where it was probably headed to begin with (that is where the other space sample parachuted into and the area was glossed over by MSM at the time).

Conspiracy before hegemony!

originally posted by: Brotherman
a reply to: gortex

Hopefully it ushers in a new era, the space zombie apocalypse.

I read that and was thinking... SPACE COVID!

a reply to: gortex

So many questions... Ominous...

Was that second mission directive planed from the start?

How close will apophis pass and will their thruster burn change it's trajectory?

Why bring samples home when the ship can analyze on-board?

Will it stay with apophis or return home?

Sounds like they got recruited by the DART program...

a reply to: Terpene

Was that second mission directive planed from the start?

No , the decision was taken last year as I guess the opportunity was to good to miss and the spacecraft has the fuel to do it , the proximity the spacecraft will come to the Sun could cause problems though.

“The investigation is not without substantial technical risk,” Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s planetary science division, wrote in an April 25 memo approving the extension. The trajectory OSIRIS-APEX will take will bring it within half an astronomical unit of the sun, much closer than originally designed when the spacecraft traveled to Bennu, requiring what she called “significant engineering work” to ensue spacecraft systems can survive several such close approaches before arriving at Apophis.
www.eoportal.org...-apex-origins-spectral-interpretation-resource-identification-and-security-apophis- explorer

How close will apophis pass and will their thruster burn change it's trajectory?

About This close , if I were them I'd do the burn on the side that would push it away from us but I doubt the thrusters would have an effect on its trajectory.

Why bring samples home when the ship can analyze on-board?

They're going to use spectroscopic analysis on Apophis but the data they can get with hands on access will be more rounded than that , plus who doesn't want to hold a bit of the Early Solar System in their hands.

Will it stay with apophis or return home?

Yes , that will be its final journey ... if it makes it.

a reply to: gortex

why dont they wait until AFTER the asteroid passes by us....
oh no,... knowing our track record of,
causing climate change
or
creating covid and a million others to wipe us out,...

nope,.. lets mess with the nastiest beast we can,
pull its tail to see if it follows us home
whats the worst can happen?

a reply to: sarcasticcritic

Like I said, Ominous.

Will we finally get apophis for president

a reply to: gortex

Thanks for the detailed answer, much appreciated.

DART was a success if I remember correctly, they'll probably keep exploring that option as planetary defense...

I see why this could have been coming together only recently and it cloud be a great opportunity to gather more data for other methods?

Good, then maybe we will be able to figure out how to divert it's path because it is a near-Earth asteroid, it's too close for comfort?

Though calcite is the most common carbonate mineral that we identify on Bennu, at least one-quarter of the carbonate detections are more Mg-rich compositions based on the wavelength of their 3.4-μm features (Fig. 3), including likely dolomite, breunnerite, and magnesite.

Carbonaceous asteroids formed early in Solar System history and experienced varying degrees of aqueous (water-rock) and thermal alteration. Most models of the evolution of these asteroids suggest that aqueous alteration was driven by hydrothermal convection. However, it is debated whether this alteration occurred in a chemically closed or open system. The bulk chemical compositions of the carbonaceous chondrite meteorites imply that the system was closed. Models predict that large-scale fluid flow in an open system took place on at least some asteroids. In this scenario, fluids would have flowed through fractures from the interior, and minerals would have precipitated into these fractures, forming veins.

www.science.org...#:~:text=Though%20calcite%20is%20the%20most,dolomite%2C%20breunnerite%2C%20and%20magnesite.https:// www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc3557#:~:text=Though%20calcite%20is%20the%20most,dolomite%2C%20breunnerite%2C%20and%20magnesite.

So, aqueous alteration and organics...very interesting.

What a time to be alive, I love that we can explore space. There are plenty of things going on in the world that are messed up, but I wish we could focus even more time and resources into space exploration. Didn't even know this mission was going on, but glad to hear of it. Excited to see the results.

Time to watch The Andromeda Strain again?

a reply to: gortex
Sucessful landing!
i am amazed at the way it landed so snug,pointy bit down-almost looks balanced like a spinning top.
If not for the nearby parachute it looks pretty alien.

Funny commentry from the NASA channel-They explained the desert is the best place to land safely-then went on to say the recovery team first needs to check that area of the desert for unexploded ordnance(as its a testing ground).

Sounds slghtly less than safe.

Video of the landing.

a reply to: gortex

Damn impressive!

Strange tapping noises heard coming from the capsule , scientists look puzzled.


Nah not really , preparations underway for the capsule's transport to Johnson space centre tomorrow.