NASA’s asteroid-sampling spacecraft Osiris-Rex will go look at ‘the mess it made’

In October 2020, NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft took a chunk out of asteroid Bennu. Earlier than Osiris-Rex returns to Earth to ship its bounty, it will revisit the scene of the heist.The asteroid-investigating spacecraft will carry out one closing very shut flyby of Bennu on Wednesday to find “the extent of the mess it made,” NASA announced Thursday.  

Osiris-Rex was a bit of grasping in the course of the pattern seize operation, selecting up an overflowing quantity of gravel that needed to be stowed before anticipated. It left a mark on the asteroid.

“The Osiris-Rex staff determined so as to add this final flyover after Bennu’s floor was considerably disturbed by the pattern assortment occasion,” NASA said. “Throughout landing, the spacecraft’s sampling head sunk 1.6 toes (48.eight centimeters) into the asteroid’s floor and concurrently fired a pressurized cost of nitrogen fuel.” The thrusters fired to again Osiris-Rex away additionally disturbed the floor.

NASA has scheduled the flyover for April 7 with the purpose of capturing photos of the gathering website from an in depth distance of simply 2.Three miles (3.7 kilometers) away.

Osiris-Rex will proceed to hold round at Bennu till Might 10, when it should kick off a two-year return journey again to Earth. The bits of Bennu will likely be delivered to scientists by means of a Pattern Return Capsule jettisoned by the spacecraft. 

Within the meantime, NASA will get to match the before-and-after photos of the pattern website to see simply how large of a tattoo Osiris-Rex left on Bennu.

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