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OSIRIS-REx — an international sample-return mission led by NASA and joined by science team members from Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy, and with an instrument provided through the Canadian Space Agency — is less than one month away from performing a Touch-And-Go sample collection maneuver to return portions of asteroid Bennu to Earth
Since arriving in orbit of Bennu on 31 December 2018, the NASA-led OSIRIS-REx mission has observed the near Earth object, asteroid Bennu, with a suite of scientific sensors and instruments, designed not just to study and transmit data about the asteroid back to Earth, but also to meticulously map its surface in high detail ahead of the Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event, now scheduled for 20 October
Under the present schedule, OSIRIS-REx will leave Bennu in 2021 and bring the Sample Return Capsule back to Earth for the capsule’s 24 September 2023 landing at the Utah Test and Training Range.Â
Over 300 particle ejection events have been observed from Bennu’s surface by OSIRIS-REx since it arrived at the near Earth object — the majority of which occurred toward the end of the local two-hour afternoon period
Ground-based observations prior to OSIRIS-REx’s arrival hinted at the possibility of an active near Earth object based on predicted thermo-cycling conditions that occur every 4.3 hours as Bennu completes one rotation around its axis
UK
Australia
France
Germany
Russia
India
Canada