OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Plasma and electricity in space. Failure of gravity-only cosmology. Exposing the myths of dark matter, dark energy, black holes, neutron stars, and other mathematical constructs. The electric model of stars. Predictions and confirmations of the electric comet.

Moderators: MGmirkin, bboyer

allynh
Posts: 919
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:51 pm

OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by allynh » Tue Sep 12, 2017 10:04 pm

I missed this. I saw the documentary on my local PBS station. People need to watch this. They will be at the asteroid in 2018. Watch the video and notice all the assumptions they are making. Let me know if this has already been talked about by the Team. The Team definitely needs to follow this.

This is the documentary on YouTube:

OSIRIS REx: Countdown to Launch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeYiI3OlUNY

This the Arizona Public Media.

OSIRIS-REx: Countdown to Launch
https://tv.azpm.org/osirisrex/

This is the NASA site.

OSIRIS-REx
https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

Wiki - OSIRIS-REx
The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) is a NASA asteroid study and sample return mission.[5][6][7][8] Launched on 8 September 2016, its mission is to study asteroid 101955 Bennu, a carbonaceous asteroid, and return a sample to Earth in 2023 for detailed analysis. The material returned is expected to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System, its initial stages of planet formation, and the source of organic compounds that led to the formation of life on Earth.[9] If successful, OSIRIS-REx will be the first US spacecraft to return samples from an asteroid.

The cost of the mission will be approximately US$800 million[10] not including the Atlas V launch vehicle, which is about US$183.5 million.[11] It is the third planetary science mission selected in the New Frontiers program, after Juno and New Horizons. The Principal Investigator is Dante Lauretta from the University of Arizona.

. . .

After traveling for approximately two years, the spacecraft is to rendezvous with asteroid 101955 Bennu in 2018 and begin 505 days of surface mapping at a distance of approximately 5 km (3.1 mi).[1] Results of that mapping will be used by the mission team to select the site from which to take a sample of the asteroid's surface.[13] Then a close approach (without landing) will be attempted to allow extension of a robotic arm to gather the sample.[14]
Wiki - 101955 Bennu

User avatar
D_Archer
Posts: 1255
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:01 am
Location: The Netherlands

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by D_Archer » Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:38 am

How are they going to scoop up a piece of rock?

Maybe they expect loose dust and pick that up?

Regards,
Daniel
- Shoot Forth Thunder -

User avatar
comingfrom
Posts: 760
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 9:11 pm
Location: NSW, Australia
Contact:

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by comingfrom » Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:14 am

Let us hope OSIRIS REx their theories. :D

allynh
Posts: 919
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:51 pm

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by allynh » Thu Sep 28, 2017 2:31 pm

They used an Earth flyby to slingshot the probe toward Bennu. They took a picture of the Earth along the way.

OSIRIS-REx probe snaps Earth photo on way to space mining adventure
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/osi ... adventure/
Nsikan Akpan
September 26, 2017

An image of Earth taken by the OSIRIS-REx MapCam on Sept. 22. The view shows the Pacific Ocean, with Australia in the lower left and Baja California and the southwestern U.S. in the upper right. The dark streaks at the top are due to short photo exposure times, which are need to capture an object as bright as Earth. Photo by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Arizona

An image of Earth taken by the OSIRIS-REx MapCam on Sept. 22. The view shows the Pacific Ocean, with Australia in the lower left and Baja California and the southwestern U.S. in the upper right. The dark streaks at the top are due to short photo exposure times, which are need to capture an object as bright as Earth. Photo by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Arizona

Looking at Earth from 106,000 miles miles away, it’s easy to forget the complexity of our planet and the 7.5 billion people that live there. A new image from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe offers such a vantage point.

The photo was captured during OSIRIS-REx’s flyby of Earth on Friday. The probe, which passed within 11,000 miles of Earth, needed a boost from the planet’s gravity to reach the orbital plane of its destination: the near-Earth asteroid Bennu.

Asteroid Bennu’s orbit around the Sun is tilted at a six-degree inclination (or angle) from Earth’s orbit. On Sept. 22, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will use the Earth’s gravity to boost itself onto Bennu’s orbital plane. Photo by University of Arizona

Asteroid Bennu’s orbit around the Sun is tilted at a six-degree inclination (or angle) from Earth’s orbit. On Sept. 22, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft used the Earth’s gravity to boost itself onto Bennu’s orbital plane. Photo by University of Arizona

OSIRIS-REx will reach Bennu in 2018, where it will spend a year mapping the surface of the carbon-rich rock. Scientists hope to ultimately land the probe on Bennu with the aim to collect two ounces of the asteroid, which may offer clues to the origins of the solar system.

The mission will also beam back calculations of Bennu’s orbit, given the asteroid has a relatively high probability of impacting Earth in the late 22nd century. The probe aims to return its rock collection to Earth by 2023.

For now, you can scope out this shot for our planet taken by the space miner. The dark streaks at the top are due to the short exposure times — less than three milliseconds — that are needed to take a photo of an object as bright as the Earth.
I found this older article from 2015 on the Newshour.

How do you vacuum an asteroid traveling 63,000 mph?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/nas ... oid-bennu/
Catherine Woods
June 30, 2015

This artist's rendering illustrates the spacecraft OSIRIS-REx, which will extend its robotic arm, TAGSAM, to vacuum up a sample from the asteroid Bennu. Photo by National Aeronautics and Space Administration

This artist’s rendering illustrates the spacecraft OSIRIS-REx, which will extend its robotic arm, TAGSAM, to vacuum up a sample from the asteroid Bennu.
Photo by National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Today is National Asteroid Day, and to celebrate, we’re going to fast forward to 2018, when the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is slated to vacuum up the first asteroid sample ever collected and return the rock dust to Earth. And if all goes as planned, the spacecraft will return that sample in 2023. Why the seven-year journey?

Searching for the perfect asteroid to visit is no easy task. And Bennu, the chosen asteroid, had to satisfy a lot of requirements, including what scientists at NASA call low eccentricity and inclination.

If a planet or asteroid like Bennu moves in a circular orbit, remaining an equal distance from the sun at all times, it has zero eccentricity. But if an asteroid’s orbit is more of an ellipse – meaning its distance from the sun varies during a single orbit – that’s known as high eccentricity.

Video courtesy of NASA

And high eccentricity can be a tricky thing. Since the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft relies in part on solar power, it can never stray too far from the sun. But too close to the sun, and it can’t stand the heat. Just like Earth, Bennu has very low eccentricity which makes it a perfect ‘not too hot, not too cold’ destination.

Our solar system exists on a flat plane. The spacecraft’s trajectory must bend toward Bennu when it jets off the Earth, angling it’s path slightly off the Earth’s plane. Because bending the trajectory requires a lot of energy, “we will do what is called an Earth-gravity assist,” said University of Arizona planetary scientist Dante Lauretta, NASA’s lead scientist on the mission. The spacecraft will first fly under Antarctica and use Earth’s gravity to make a six-degree change before pushing off toward Bennu. “It would take a lot more energy to bend farther away,” Lauretta said.

Bennu orbits the sun at 63,000 mph. To intercept the rock, OSIRIS-REx will race toward it at a pace of 12,000 mph, but then slow down to a crawl, approaching Bennu at less than half a mile per hour. After its 2016 launch, it will take two years to reach the asteroid.

Once OSIRIS-REx is within three miles of Bennu, it will collect a detailed map of the asteroid’s surface, which extends roughly the size of four football fields. NASA’s scientist will then determine where it is safe for OSIRIS-REx to extend its 10 foot robotic arm and vacuum up a two ounce sample, without landing and risking damage to the spacecraft.

When dreaming up a way to collect a sample from Bennu, scientists brainstormed the use of many tools – shovels, drills, claws and scoops. But each had its downside. “In the microgravity environment, it is really hard for those tools to work. We thought wouldn’t it be great if we just had a vacuum cleaner?” Lauretta said.

But Bennu already exists in a vacuum – there is no gravity or atmosphere. So the team designed a space vacuum called TAGSAM or “touch and go acquisition mechanism.” TAGSAM works by generating a brief and tiny atmosphere on Bennu. First, It puffs nitrogen outward, causing particles to fly off the asteroid. Then a screen inside TAGSAM acts as a vacuum bag, catching the dust particles as they leave the asteroid’s surface.

Scientists test the robotic vacuum arm called TAGSAM or “touch and go acquisition mechanism” from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Video courtesy of NASA
After collecting a sample, OSIRIS-REx must wait years before it can depart for Earth. Because Bennu’s trajectory is an ellipse, the distance between Bennu and Earth varies from about 62,000 to 1.8 million miles. Once the Earth gets close to Bennu again, OSIRIS-REx will use its engines to kick off the asteroid’s orbit and head home.

What is on Bennu?

Scientists don’t expect to find life on Bennu. But Bennu’s sample could tell us more about what resources are available in space and help us understand the origins of our solar system.

Astronomers believe that Bennu originated from a cloud of hydrogen, helium and dust – the same components that led to the creation of our solar system.

“The way the asteroid’s surface absorbs sunlight and re-emits energy as heat plays a substantial role in its orbital evolution,” Lauretta said. In other words, analyzing how much heat Bennu’s sample gives off can shed light on the birth of our solar system.

Since all meteorite samples become contaminated the moment they encounter the Earth, Bennu’s sample will be kept pristine in a capsule. We know what asteroids are generally made of, thanks to meteorites – small fragments of asteroids that fall to Earth. Bennu is believed to contain large amounts of platinum.

“If you were able to actually mine an asteroid the size of Bennu, you would become the first trillionaire on Earth,” Lauretta said.
The video shows the bizarre method they plan to collect the sample. By "vacuuming" up a sample. Why do I get the sense that this will backfire on them.

NASA | OSIRIS-REx Investigates Asteroid Bennu - 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-VR6pNi70k

allynh
Posts: 919
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:51 pm

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by allynh » Mon Oct 16, 2017 3:28 pm

This first video is the consensus dogma they are using to justify the mission. Deeply scary.

NASA | Asteroid Bennu's Journey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtUgarROs08

NASA Goddard
Published on Nov 17, 2014

These go into more detail about the mission.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0FxDxs7lyw

NASA Goddard
Published on Apr 29, 2016

To Bennu and Back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IQDxm9oQWY

NASA Goddard
Published on Sep 6, 2016

allynh
Posts: 919
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:51 pm

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by allynh » Tue Jan 02, 2018 12:43 pm

Mission Status Update – Cruising Toward Asteroid Bennu
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/20 ... roid-bennu
Dec. 11, 2017

OSIRIS-REx is continuing outbound cruise operations, en route to arrival in August of 2018 at the asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft is currently 29.6 million miles (47.6 million kilometers) from Earth and is executing a program designed to study and reduce the presence of water on the spacecraft.

During routine in-flight testing of the spacecraft’s thermal properties earlier this year, the mission’s navigation team noticed an unexpected minor acceleration of the spacecraft when the Sample Return Capsule (SRC) was exposed to sunlight. The mission team determined that this small thrust was caused by the outgassing of water that had been adsorbed by the SRC’s heat shield and backshell before launch. Retention of water in blanketing and other materials – and the subsequent outgassing of this water – occurs with all spacecraft. For OSIRIS-REx, it was determined that when the SRC was exposed to the Sun at a distance of less than 1 Astronomical Unit (1 AU = approximately 93 million miles), this trapped water escaped and imparted a small thrust. While this small thrust would not be a problem for other missions, the gravity at the target asteroid Bennu is low enough that even this small amount of thrust could make orbital operations more difficult for OSIRIS-REx.

To better understand the outgassing effects on the spacecraft’s trajectory – and to bake out much of the remaining water before the spacecraft arrives at Bennu – the OSIRIS-REx mission team designed an outgassing program for execution starting earlier this fall. The choice of timing took into account both the spacecraft’s proximity to the Sun (less than 1 AU) and the fact that there were no science activities planned during this period. The outgassing program is being run concurrently with outbound cruise operations and does not affect the timing of the spacecraft’s arrival at Bennu.

Starting in mid-October, the spacecraft has been placed into various attitudes to expose different parts of the SRC to direct sunlight and initiate outgassing. Priority is given to the portions of the SRC that will face the Sun during asteroid proximity operations. The mission team has been able to detect and measure the rate of outgassing at each attitude and has determined that water is being removed as expected. The goal is to reduce the outgassing to the point where the spacecraft can fly the planned baseline trajectories around Bennu without modifications, and preliminary indications show that the program is progressing toward this goal. The program is scheduled to run through early January 2018.

allynh
Posts: 919
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:51 pm

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by allynh » Wed May 02, 2018 9:33 am

OSIRIS-REx selfie. HA!

Sample Return Capsule Imaged During Six-Month Checkout
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/godd ... h-checkout
a white cone sits atop a brown structure
This image of the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule (SRC) was taken on March 2, 2017, by the spacecraft’s StowCam imager as part of a visual checkout of the SRC conducted six months after launch.

A small, dark spot is visible on the surface of the SRC that was not present during the checkout images taken after launch in 2016. Subsequent analysis has shown that this spot is an indentation approximately 0.08 inches (2 mm) across – the size of a poppy seed – that may have been caused by a particle hitting the SRC during flight. The SRC is the capsule on the spacecraft that will securely stow the sample of asteroid Bennu once it is collected, and it will ultimately detach from the spacecraft and land under parachutes in the Utah desert in 2023. The indentation visible in the image is located on the SRC’s ablative heat shield, which was designed to withstand being hit by particles and the high-speed entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. After further investigation, it was determined that the indentation will not affect the SRC’s performance.

StowCam, a color imager, is one of three cameras comprising TAGCAMS (the Touch-and-Go Camera System), which is part of OSIRIS-REx’s guidance, navigation, and control system. TAGCAMS was designed, built and tested by Malin Space Science Systems; Lockheed Martin integrated TAGCAMS to the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and operates TAGCAMS.

Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

Last Updated: April 20, 2018

Editor: Karl Hille

allynh
Posts: 919
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:51 pm

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by allynh » Tue Jul 31, 2018 9:58 am

Successful Second Deep Space Maneuver for OSIRIS-REx Confirmed
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/20 ... e-maneuver
OSIRIS-REx illustration
Illustration of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during a burn of its main engine.
Credits: University of Arizona
New tracking data confirms that NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully completed its second Deep Space Maneuver (DSM-2) on June 28. The thruster burn put the spacecraft on course for a series of asteroid approach maneuvers to be executed this fall that will culminate with the spacecraft’s scheduled arrival at asteroid Bennu on Dec. 3.

The DSM-2 burn, which employed the spacecraft’s Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) thruster set, resulted in a 37 miles per hour (16.7 meters per second) change in the vehicle’s velocity and consumed 28.2 pounds (12.8 kilograms) of fuel.

Tracking data from the Deep Space Network provided preliminary confirmation of the burn’s execution, and the subsequent downlink of telemetry from the spacecraft shows that all subsystems performed as expected.

DSM-2 was OSIRIS-REx’s last deep space maneuver of its outbound cruise to Bennu. The next engine burn, Asteroid Approach Maneuver 1 (AAM-1), is scheduled for early October. AAM-1 is a major braking maneuver designed to slow the spacecraft’s speed from approximately 1,130 to 320 miles per hour (506.2 to 144.4 meters per second) relative to Bennu and is the first of four asteroid approach maneuvers scheduled for this fall.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission’s observation planning and processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the spacecraft and is providing spacecraft flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the agency’s New Frontiers Program for its Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Original Maneuver Update: June 28, 2018

OSIRIS-REx Executes Second Deep Space Maneuver

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft executed its second Deep Space Maneuver today, which put the spacecraft on course for its scheduled arrival at the asteroid Bennu in December. The mission team will continue to examine telemetry and tracking data as they become available and will have more information on the results of the maneuver over the next week.

Media contact: Nancy N. Jones
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Last Updated: July 5, 2018

Editor: Rob Garner

perpetual motion
Posts: 154
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:04 pm

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by perpetual motion » Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:39 pm

Well well well heres another space explorer going to the asteroid belt to try and find this particular
asteroid, that until recently, they said that asteroids were to dark to detect, and they are taking
a Kerby with it this time to VACUUM UP some space dust.
Outgassing, ooh, theres another word, kind of like gravity. Follow me closely on this one. Vacuum, Cold,
Minimal particles if any, now how to get a gas thruster to work in this environment. Just can not be.
Frozen water, now there is another one just like gravity, there is not any heat in space to evaporate
this material.
Even if these were true, why are they wasting our monies on this foolishness, We are never going to
inhabit any of these rocks or planets.
Maybe if you are young or below the age of 50 this space agency has got you by the tail in believing
their mumbo jumbo, over 50 you should come to the conclusion that you should not believe anything
that the government or sponsored government programs write up or blab to the news media, because
most people believe this stuff.
I am just quoting some of this article, you've probably read it anyway.
"When dreaming up a way to collect a sample from Bennu, scientists brainstormed the use of many tools – shovels, drills, claws and scoops. But each had its downside. “In the microgravity environment, it is really hard for those tools to work. We thought wouldn’t it be great if we just had a vacuum cleaner?”
"The way the asteroid’s surface absorbs sunlight and re-emits energy as heat plays a substantial role in its orbital evolution, In other words, analyzing how much heat Bennu’s sample gives off can shed light on the birth of our solar system."
"During routine in-flight testing of the spacecraft’s thermal properties earlier this year, the mission’s navigation team noticed an unexpected minor acceleration of the spacecraft when the Sample Return Capsule (SRC) was exposed to sunlight. The mission team determined that this small thrust was caused by the outgassing of water that had been adsorbed by the SRC’s heat shield and backshell before launch. Retention of water in blanketing and other materials – and the subsequent outgassing of this water – occurs with all spacecraft. For OSIRIS-REx, it was determined that when the SRC was exposed to the Sun at a distance of less than 1 Astronomical Unit (1 AU = approximately 93 million miles), this trapped water escaped and imparted a small thrust. While this small thrust would not be a problem for other missions, the gravity at the target asteroid Bennu is low enough that even this small amount of thrust could make orbit
"To better understand the outgassing effects on the spacecraft’s trajectory – and to bake out much of the remaining water before the spacecraft arrives at Bennu – the OSIRIS-REx mission team designed an outgassing program for execution starting earlier this fall. The choice of timing took into account both the spacecraft’s proximity to the Sun (less than 1 AU) and the fact that there were no science activities planned during this period. The outgassing program is being run concurrently with outbound cruise operations and does not affect the timing of the spacecraft’s arrival at Bennu."

"Starting in mid-October, the spacecraft has been placed into various attitudes to expose different parts of the SRC to direct sunlight and initiate outgassing. Priority is given to the portions of the SRC that will face the Sun during asteroid proximity operations. The mission team has been able to detect and measure the rate of outgassing at each attitude and has determined that water is being removed as expected. The goal is to reduce the outgassing to the point where the spacecraft can fly the planned baseline trajectories around Bennu without modifications, and preliminary indications show that the program is progressing toward this goal. The program is scheduled to run through early January 2018.burn, which employed the spacecraft’s Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM) thruster set, resulteDSM-2 was OSIRIS-REx’s last deep space maneuver of its outbound cruise to Bennu."
"The next engine burn, Asteroid Approach Maneuver 1 (AAM-1), is scheduled for early October. AAM-1 is a major braking maneuver designed to slow the spacecraft’s speed from approximately 1,130 to 320 miles per hour (506.2 to 144.4 meters per second) relative to Bennu and is the first of four asteroid approach maneuvers scheduled for this fall.d in a 37 miles per hour (16.7 meters per second) change in the vehicle’s velocity and consumed 28.2 pounds (12.8 kilograms) of fuel.al operations more difficult for OSIRIS-REx.DSM-2 was OSIRIS-REx’s last deep space maneuver of its outbound cruise to Bennu."
"The next engine burn, AsNASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft executed its second Deep Space Maneuver today, which put the spacecraft on course for its scheduled arrival at the asteroid Bennu in December. The mission team will continue to examine telemetry and tracking data as they become available and will have more information on the results of the maneuver over the next week.teroid Approach Maneuver 1 (AAM-1), is scheduled for early October. AAM-1 is a major braking maneuver designed to slow the spacecraft’s speed from approximately 1,130 to 320 miles per hour (506.2 to 144.4 meters per second) relative to Bennu and is the first of four asteroid approach maneuvers scheduled for this fall."

User avatar
nick c
Site Admin
Posts: 2483
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:12 pm
Location: connecticut

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by nick c » Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:07 am

Other than complaining about how your tax dollars are spent, and that is your right; I don't see any reason for criticizing this choice of a mission.
They are going to an asteroid and taking a sample for analysis. It will be interesting to learn what they find.

allynh
Posts: 919
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:51 pm

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by allynh » Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:01 pm

The website has a series of links that bring people up to date. These two are the most fun.

There are two YouTube videos in this article. Both are scary to watch. They are really going to do this. HA!

TAGSAM Testing Complete: OSIRIS-REx Prepared to TAG an Asteroid
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/20 ... n-asteroid
On Nov. 14, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft stretched out its robotic sampling arm for the first time in space. The arm, more formally known as the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), is key to the spacecraft achieving the primary goal of the mission: returning a sample from asteroid Bennu in 2023.

As planned, engineers at Lockheed Martin commanded the spacecraft to move the arm through its full range of motion – flexing its shoulder, elbow, and wrist “joints.” This long-awaited stretch, which was confirmed by telemetry data and imagery captured by the spacecraft’s SamCam camera, demonstrates that the TAGSAM head is ready to collect a sample of loose dirt and rock (called regolith) from Bennu’s surface.

round technology against black

This image shows the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) sampling head extended from the spacecraft at the end of the TAGSAM arm. The image was obtained by the SamCam camera on Nov. 14, 2018 as part of a visual checkout of the spacecraft’s sample acquisition system. This is a rehearsal image for an observation that will be taken at Bennu during the moment of sample collection to help document the asteroid material collected in the TAGSAM head. There are two witness plate assemblies on the top perimeter of the TAGSAM head, one of which is entirely visible in this image. These witness plates record the deposition of material on the TAGSAM head over the duration of the mission, giving scientists a record of material on the TAGSAM head that is not from Bennu.

Credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

“The TAGSAM exercise is an important milestone, as the prime objective of the OSIRIS-REx mission is to return a sample of Bennu to Earth,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. “This successful test shows that, when the time comes, TAGSAM is ready to reach out and tag the asteroid.”

Years of innovation

Lockheed Martin engineers spent more than a decade designing, building, and testing TAGSAM, which includes an 11-foot (3.35-meter) arm with three articulating joints, a round sampler head at the end of the arm that resembles the air filter in a car, and three bottles of high-pressure nitrogen gas.

This test deployment was a rehearsal for a date in mid-2020 when the spacecraft will unfold the TAGSAM arm again, slowly descend to Bennu’s surface, and briefly touch the asteroid with the sampler head. A burst of nitrogen gas will stir up regolith on the asteroid’s surface, which will be caught in the TAGSAM head. The TAG sequence will take about five seconds, after which the spacecraft will execute small maneuvers to carefully back away from Bennu. Afterward, SamCam will image the sampler head, as it did during the test deployment, to help confirm that TAGSAM collected at least 2.1 ounces (60 grams) of regolith.

TAGSAM Taking a Sample
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JkB_lXrJFo

In mid-2020, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will use its TAGSAM device to stir up and collect a sample of loose material from asteroid Bennu’s surface. That material will be returned to Earth for study in 2023.

Credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

The TAGSAM mechanism was designed for the key challenge unique to the OSIRIS-REx mission: collecting a sample from the smallest planetary body ever to be orbited by a spacecraft. “First-of-its-kind innovations like this one serve as the precursor for future missions to small bodies,” said Sandy Freund, systems engineer manager and Lockheed Martin OSIRIS-REx MSA manager. “By proving out these technologies and techniques, we are going to be able to return the largest sample from space in half a century and pave the way for other missions.”

A month of testing

The unfolding of the TAGSAM arm was the latest and most significant step in a series of tests and check-outs of the spacecraft’s sampling system, which began in October when OSIRIS-REx jettisoned the cover that protected the TAGSAM head during launch and the mission’s outbound cruise phase. Shortly before the cover ejection, and again the day after, OSIRIS-REx performed two spins called Sample Mass Measurements. By comparing the spacecraft’s inertial properties during these before-and-after spins, the team confirmed that the 2.67-pound (1.21-kilogram) cover was successfully ejected on Oct. 17.

A week later, on Oct. 25, the Frangibolts holding the TAGSAM arm in place fired successfully, releasing the arm and allowing the team to move it into a parked position just outside its protective housing. After resting in this position for a few weeks, the arm was fully deployed into its sampling position, its joints were tested, and images were captured with SamCam. The spacecraft will execute two additional Sample Mass Measurements over the next two days. The mission team will use these spins as a baseline to compare with the results of similar spins that will be conducted after TAG in 2020 in order to confirm the mass of the sample collected.

TAGSAM Arm Deployment and Mass Measurement Spin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwrF_EvUl5c

Over the past month, the OSIRIS-REx team conducted a series of tests to ensure that TAGSAM, the spacecraft’s sampling mechanism, is ready to collect a sample from Bennu in 2020. This rehearsal marked the first time since launch that the TAGSAM arm has moved through its full range of motion.

Credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

Although the sampling system was rigorously tested on Earth, this rehearsal marked the first time that the team has deployed TAGSAM in the micro-gravity environment of space.

"The team is very pleased that TAGSAM has been released, deployed, and is operating as commanded through its full range of motion." said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It has been restrained for over two years since launch, so it is gratifying to see it out of its shackles and performing well."

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to arrive at Bennu on Dec. 3. It will spend nearly one year surveying the asteroid with five scientific instruments so that the mission team can select a location that is safe and scientifically interesting to collect the sample.

“Now that we have put TAGSAM through its paces in space and know it is ready to perform at Bennu, we can focus on the challenges of navigating around the asteroid and seeking out the best possible sample site,” said Lauretta.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team, the mission’s science observation planning, and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft and is providing flight operations. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages New Frontiers for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information on OSIRIS-REx visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

and

http://www.asteroidmission.org

By Christine Hoekenga
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

Last Updated: Nov. 21, 2018

Editor: Karl Hille
This page is an assembled video showing Bennu. Go to the page and capture the gif. There is something deeply disturbing about how it looks. Why does it look like a spinning dice from a role playing game. HA!

Nov. 6, 2018
OSIRIS-REx Sees Bennu from 'All Sides'
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/godd ... -all-sides
animated images of asteroid

This set of images shows the asteroid Bennu rotating for one full revolution. Over a four-hour and 11-minute period on Nov. 2, the PolyCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft acquired a 2.5-millisecond image for every 10 degrees of the asteroid’s rotation. At the time of imaging, Bennu was approximately 122 miles (197 km) from the spacecraft, and appeared approximately 200 pixels wide in PolyCam’s frame.

Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

Last Updated: Nov. 6, 2018

Editor: Karl Hille

jacmac
Posts: 596
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2009 12:36 pm

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by jacmac » Wed Nov 21, 2018 6:57 pm

allynh:
They are really going to do this. HA!
The Astronomy people at the University of Arizona are very good.
They drove the Mars rovers around for a loooong time.
I wish them good luck.
They just don't see electricity in space when they see it.
Yet.

allynh
Posts: 919
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:51 pm

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by allynh » Wed Nov 28, 2018 8:05 pm

This is the PBS Newshour Wednesday, 28 November 2018.

How this spacecraft will sample an asteroid's rocks, without even landing on it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gFUrvt0884

User avatar
D_Archer
Posts: 1255
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:01 am
Location: The Netherlands

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by D_Archer » Thu Dec 13, 2018 4:11 am

NASA releases first data from OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission:
http://astronomy.com/news/2018/12/nasa- ... id-mission

Image
the space rock is porous, blue, and covered in massive boulders
Some of the initial data indicate that Bennu’s surface contains clay filled with hydrated minerals, indicating that they came into contact with liquid water at some point. The asteroid itself is too small to host any such water on its surface, which means its larger parent body likely did at one time.
“This is a great surprise,” Amy Simon, Senior Scientist
the surface does appear to be more rugged than previously thought.
The team has also found far more boulders covering Bennu’s surface than expected
This is important for the craft’s mission to return samples of Bennu to Earth, as its arm isn’t very strong, and it’ll need to land in a place where the rocks are small enough to pick up easily.
-comment, at first i thought with scooping they meant actually scooping, but picking up up rocks is something else, should be possible, but not if there are only really big rocks... a weak grabbing arm does not help..
the asteroid has a density just under 75 pounds per cubic foot (1,200 kg/m3). Since the average asteroid has a density around 187 pounds per cubic foot (3,000 kg/m3), this makes Bennu much less dense than the average. This likely means that Bennu is porous, filled with holes and caves like a sponge
- probably in reality much more dense, as per electric gravity skews the density calculations with the 'standard gravity model'
---

That's all folks.

Regards,
Daniel
- Shoot Forth Thunder -

Aardwolf
Posts: 1330
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2009 7:56 am

Re: OSIRIS REx Asteroid sample and return mission

Unread post by Aardwolf » Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:58 am

D_Archer wrote:
the asteroid has a density just under 75 pounds per cubic foot (1,200 kg/m3). Since the average asteroid has a density around 187 pounds per cubic foot (3,000 kg/m3), this makes Bennu much less dense than the average. This likely means that Bennu is porous, filled with holes and caves like a sponge
- probably in reality much more dense, as per electric gravity skews the density calculations with the 'standard gravity model'
---
Yes unfortunately that's the sorry mess we find astronomy in today.

If it was cavernous why is the surface virtually smooth with no caves/apetures etc. The ice/loose earth/sponge is ALWAYS hidden from view. Some of the more intelligent of these "scientists" must realise something is fundamentaly wrong with their dogma. Too afraid to lose funding to say anything I suspect.

Locked

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests