Boulders on Bennu
Explanation:
An abundance of boulders litters the surface
asteroid
101955 Bennu in this dramatic close-up
from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
Taken on March 28 from a distance of just 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) the
field of view is about 50 meters across while the light colored
boulder at top right is 4.8 meters tall.
Likely a loose conglomerate rubble pile asteroid,
Bennu itself spans less than 500 meters.
That's about the height of the Empire State Building.
Mapping the
near Earth asteroid since the
spacecraft's arrival in December of 2018, the
OSIRIS-REx mission
plans a TAG (Touch-and-Go)
maneuver for July 2020 to sample Bennu's rugged surface, returning
the sample to planet Earth in September 2023.
Citizen scientists have been invited to
help
choose the sample collection site.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
