NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission

The sample return capsule from the OSIRIS-REx mission

OSIRIS-REx was NASA’s mission to collect a sample from the asteroid Bennu. In September 2023, OSIRIS-REx returned to Earth to drop off material from Bennu.  OSIRIS-REx continued on a new mission, OSIRIS-APEX. The objective of the new mission is to study Apophis, which the spacecraft will reach in 2029.

NASA lists 10 reasons why scientists wanted to study Bennu. Here a a few of them:

1. Bennu has been well preserved in the vacuum of space since the formation of the solar system. Bennu is a great asteroid to study to learn more about Earth’s formation. 
2. Bennu might have clues about the origin of life! Through studying Bennu through telescopes (Earth and space based), we know that it is a carbon rich asteroid. This means that Bennu is probably rich in organic molecules. It also might have water!
3. It can help scientists learn more about the Yarkovsky effect. The Yarkovsky effect is a phenomenon that involves sunlight warming one side of an asteroid and then radiating off the asteroid as heat as the asteroid rotates. Since its discovery, Bennu’s orbit has drifted closer to the Sun by about 280 meters per year. The Yarkovsky effect might be to blame for this because the heat energy pushes Bennu towards the Sun. Studying the Yarkovsky effect can help scientists predict the movement of other asteroids. 
   • Scientists estimated that Bennu could pass closer to Earth than the Moon in 2135 and then pass even closer from 2175 to 2195. Scientists in the next century can use data from OSIRIS-REx to come up with ways to deflect any asteroids that could hit Earth!
   • The risk of Bennu hitting Earth is very very low: 1 in 1,750 through the year 2300

TAGS: asteroids, astro2110, blog6, nasa, spacecraft