The target, Bennu, a Space Rock the size of the Empire State Building..
Posted on 12/02/2018 9:39:20 AM PST by BenLurkin
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous with its targeted asteroid, Bennu, on Monday, December 3, 2018, at approximately 17:00 UTC (noon EST). Translate UTC to your time.
NASA will air a live event from 16:45 to 17:15 UTC (11:45 a.m.to 12:15 p.m. EST) to highlight the arrival of the agency’s first asteroid sample return mission. You can watch on NASA TV, Facebook Live, Ustream, YouTube and NASA Live. NASA TV also will air an arrival preview program starting at 16:15 UTC (11:15 a.m. EST).
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) launched in September 2016 and has been slowly approaching Bennu.
OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid, survey the surface, collect a sample and deliver it back to Earth. The spacecraft will spend almost a year surveying the asteroid with the goal of selecting a location that is safe and scientifically interesting to collect the sample.
(Excerpt) Read more at earthsky.org ...
Somehow I am seeing Eva from the movie “Wall-e.”
I never knew there was an asteroid called December 3rd. What a coincidence. s/
Timing is everything!
The target, Bennu, a Space Rock the size of the Empire State Building..
*ping*
Named by Tuesday Weld.
Nice link. Thank you.
Just to clarify... the spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid tomorrow but will not land on it until July, 2020. In the meantime it will be mapping the asteroid in detail and looking for a safe, scientifically interesting place from which to gather a sample.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft sits on a fixture to undergo further testing at Lockheed Martin’s facility. Date Taken: Nov. 17, 2015
Credit: Lockheed Martin
Technicians gather around Lockheed Martin’s thermal vacuum chamber to watch the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft enter one of its last phases of testing. Date Taken: Feb. 11, 2016 Credit: University of Arizona/Symeon Platts
Thanks for posting and pix
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