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Credit & Copyright: OSIRIS-REx,
University of Arizona,
NASA,
Goddard Scientific Visualization
Studio
Explanation:
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft's arm reached out and touched asteroid 101955 Bennu
on October 20, 2020,
after a careful approach to
the small, near-Earth asteroid's boulder-strewn surface.
Dubbed a
Touch-And-Go
(TAG) sampling event, the 30 centimeter wide
sampling head (TAGSAM) appears to crush some of the rocks in this
close-up recorded by the spacecraft's SamCam.
The image was snapped just after surface contact
some 321 million kilometers from planet Earth.
One second later, the spacecraft fired nitrogen gas
from a bottle intended to blow a substantial amount of
Bennu's regolith
into the sampling head, collecting the
loose surface material.
And now, nearly three years later, on Sunday, September 24,
that sample of asteroid Bennu is scheduled to
arrive
on planet Earth.
The sample return capsule will be
dropped
off by the OSIRIS-Rex
spacecraft as it makes a close flyby of Earth.
Twenty minutes after the drop-off, the spacecraft will fire its
thrusters to divert past Earth and continue on to orbit near-Earth
asteroid
99942 Apophis.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: asteroid
Publications with words: asteroid
See also: