he OSIRIS-REx spacecraft executed a complicated touch-and-go maneuver<\/a> at Bennu\u2019s Nightingale site during which a robotic arm unfurled and touched the surface of the asteroid to collect a sample of rocks and dust. \u00a0The spacecraft is scheduled to deliver the sample to Earth in September 2023. OSIRIS-REx will depart asteroid Bennu in May in order to take advantage of the alignment of orbits, which will make for a shorter trip.<\/p>\n\u201cI cannot wait to see what Bennu’s surface looks like after the TAG sampling event in October, particularly how much of the surface was disturbed during sampling and whether or not additional fine particulate materials have been exposed,\u201d Donaldson Hanna says. \u201cAnd new spectral observations will give us a glimpse of whether or not there is compositional layering on the asteroid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beginning March 6, OSIRIS-REx executed the first of four maneuvers that will get the spacecraft on the trajectory needed for the final flyby to get the last images April 7. After the photo shoot is complete, the team will fire the spacecraft\u2019s engines again to get OSIRIS-REx ready for the two-year journey home, which begins May 10.<\/p>\n
Once back on the planet, the researchers will go to work analyzing the regolith sample.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where the real fun begins,\u201d Campins says. \u201cUntil then we have the images and data to study. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing the real thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Lauretta is the principal investigator, and the 海角直播 of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission\u2019s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the spacecraft and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA\u2019s New Frontiers Program, which is managed by NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.<\/p>\n
Campins has a bachelor\u2019s degree in astronomy from the 海角直播 of Kansas and a doctorate in planetary sciences from the 海角直播 of Arizona. He joined UCF in 2002 as a Provost Research Professor of Physics and Astronomy and head of the Planetary and Space Science Group, and has received multiple awards including a Fulbright and was named a Pegasus Professor in 2013. He was one of the first researchers to find evidence of water ice and organic material on an asteroid and has worked with NASA for several decades. His area of research involves asteroids, comets and other small bodies in the solar system.<\/p>\n
Donaldson Hanna\u00a0has a bachelor\u2019s degree in space sciences from the Florida Institute of Technology, and a master\u2019s degree and doctorate in geological sciences from Brown 海角直播. Donaldson Hanna is also involved with \u00a0several NASA missions including the Lunar Trailblazer mission. She has extensive research experience mostly in Europe where she was recognized for her excellence including the Winton Capital Geophysics Award from the Royal Astronomical Society. She joined UCF in 2019. Her research focuses on understanding the formation and evolution of airless bodies such as the moon, Mercury, Mars\u2019 moons, and asteroids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UCF Physics professors eager to see what new images will reveal about asteroid Bennu ahead of returning samples to Earth in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":118434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,24],"tags":[982,1775,2229,4361],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-118305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-science-technology","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-florida-space-instit","tag-humberto-campins","tag-space"],"yoast_head":"\n
OSIRIS-REx Mission to Take a Few More Pictures Before Heading Home | 海角直播 News<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n