NASA to Provide Update on Agency’s First Asteroid Sample Collection Attempt

NASA News Releases <hqnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> · Tue, 22 Sep 2020 15:18:43 +0000 (UTC)

September 22, 2020 
MEDIA ADVISORY M20-104
NASA to Provide Update on Agency’s First Asteroid Sample Collection Attempt

NASA is hosting a media teleconference at 3 p.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 24, to provide an update on the agency’s first attempt to contact the surface of asteroid Bennu and collect a sample next month. Teleconference audio and visuals will stream live on NASA’s website.

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to the asteroid’s surface during its first sample collection attempt Oct. 20. Its sampling mechanism will touch Bennu’s surface for several seconds, fire a charge of pressurized nitrogen to disturb the surface, and collect a sample before the spacecraft backs away.

Participating in this mission update are:

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate
	Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division
	Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson
	Mike Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
	Sandra Freund, OSIRIS-REx mission operations manager at Lockheed Martin Space

To participate in the teleconference, media must send their name, affiliation, and phone number to Lonnie Shekhtman at lonnie.shekhtman@xxxxxxxx no later than 1 p.m. Sept. 24.

In response to rocky conditions discovered on the asteroid’s surface when OSIRIS-REx began orbiting Bennu in 2018, the mission team has reduced the sample area to one-tenth of the original plan. This means the spacecraft must target Bennu’s surface with even greater accuracy.

A building-size boulder also is situated on Nightingale crater’s eastern rim, which could pose a hazard to the spacecraft as it backs away from the asteroid after collecting the sample. The OSIRIS-Rex team performed two rehearsal operations to prepare for these challenges and is ready.

The spacecraft is scheduled to begin the journey back to Earth next year, arriving with the sample in 2023.

Studying Bennu helps researchers learn more about the origins of our solar system, sources of water and organic molecules on Earth, and hazards and resources in near-Earth space. For more information on OSIRIS-Rex, visit:

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

and

https://www.asteroidmission.org

-end-

Press Contacts

Grey Hautaluoma / Joshua Handal

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-0668 / 202-358-2307
grey.hautaluoma-1@xxxxxxxx / joshua.a.handal@xxxxxxxx

Nancy Neal Jones

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

301-286-0039
nancy.n.jones@xxxxxxxx

Erin Morton

University of Arizona, Tucson

520-269-2493
morton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

NASA news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an e-mail message with the subject line subscribe to hqnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. 
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	September 22, 2020 MEDIA ADVISORY M20-104 NASA to Provide Update on Agency’s First Asteroid Sample Collection Attempt NASA is hosting a media teleconference at 3 p.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 24, to provide an update on the agency’s first attempt to contact the surface of asteroid Bennu and collect a sample next month. Teleconference audio and visuals will stream live on NASA’s website. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to the asteroid’s surface during its first sample collection attempt Oct. 20. Its sampling mechanism will touch Bennu’s surface for several seconds, fire a charge of pressurized nitrogen to disturb the surface, and collect a sample before the spacecraft backs away. Participating in this mission update are: Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson Mike Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Sandra Freund, OSIRIS-REx mission operations manager at Lockheed Martin Space To participate in the teleconference, media must send their name, affiliation, and phone number to Lonnie Shekhtman at lonnie.shekhtman@xxxxxxxx no later than 1 p.m. Sept. 24. In response to rocky conditions discovered on the asteroid’s surface when OSIRIS-REx began orbiting Bennu in 2018, the mission team has reduced the sample area to one-tenth of the original plan. This means the spacecraft must target Bennu’s surface with even greater accuracy. A building-size boulder also is situated on Nightingale crater’s eastern rim, which could pose a hazard to the spacecraft as it backs away from the asteroid after collecting the sample. The OSIRIS-Rex team performed two rehearsal operations to prepare for these challenges and is ready. The spacecraft is scheduled to begin the journey back to Earth next year, arriving with the sample in 2023. Studying Bennu helps researchers learn more about the origins of our solar system, sources of water and organic molecules on Earth, and hazards and resources in near-Earth space. For more information on OSIRIS-Rex, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex and https://www.asteroidmission.org -end-
	Press Contacts Grey Hautaluoma / Joshua Handal Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0668 / 202-358-2307 grey.hautaluoma-1@xxxxxxxx / joshua.a.handal@xxxxxxxx Nancy Neal Jones Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 301-286-0039 nancy.n.jones@xxxxxxxx Erin Morton University of Arizona, Tucson 520-269-2493 morton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
	NASA news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an e-mail message with the subject line subscribe to hqnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe from the list, send an e-mail message with the subject line unsubscribe to hqnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.