Exciting times. It started when they landed the NEAR probe on asteroid EROS back in 2001. We've made close passes by Comets Halley (Vega 1/2, Suisei, Sakigaki, and Giotto missions), Borrelly (Deep Space 1), Wild (Stardust), Hartley (EPOXI-ex Deep Impact) -- asteroids Ida (Galileo), Gaspra (Galileo), Braille (Deep Space 1), Anne Frank (Stardust). We smacked Temple (Deep Impact) -- orbited Vesta (Dawn) and now Churyumov-Gerasimenko (Rosetta) -- and touched Itokawa (Hayabusa).
Next launch will be OSIRIS-REx. Or, as NASA says:
Next launch will be OSIRIS-REx. Or, as NASA says:
The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security -- Regolith Explorer spacecraft will travel to a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36), and bring at least a 2.1-ounce sample back to Earth for study. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.
NASA will launch the spacecraft 2016 and use a robotic arm to pluck samples that could better explain our solar system's formation and how life began. The mission will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth. After traveling three years, OSIRIS- REx will approach the primitive, near Earth asteroid Bennu in 2019. Once within three miles of the asteroid, the spacecraft will begin six months of comprehensive surface mapping. The science team then will pick a location from where the spacecraft's arm will take a sample. The spacecraft gradually will move closer to the site, and the arm will extend to collect more than two ounces of material for return to Earth in 2023.
Bennu averages about 500 meters in diameter or roughly the size of five football fields. The asteroid, little altered over time, is likely to represent a snapshot of our solar system's infancy. The asteroid also is likely rich in carbon, a key element in the organic molecules necessary for life. Organic molecules have been found in meteorite and comet samples, indicating some of life's ingredients can be created in space; scientists want to see if they also are present on Bennu .
NASA will launch the spacecraft 2016 and use a robotic arm to pluck samples that could better explain our solar system's formation and how life began. The mission will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth. After traveling three years, OSIRIS- REx will approach the primitive, near Earth asteroid Bennu in 2019. Once within three miles of the asteroid, the spacecraft will begin six months of comprehensive surface mapping. The science team then will pick a location from where the spacecraft's arm will take a sample. The spacecraft gradually will move closer to the site, and the arm will extend to collect more than two ounces of material for return to Earth in 2023.
Bennu averages about 500 meters in diameter or roughly the size of five football fields. The asteroid, little altered over time, is likely to represent a snapshot of our solar system's infancy. The asteroid also is likely rich in carbon, a key element in the organic molecules necessary for life. Organic molecules have been found in meteorite and comet samples, indicating some of life's ingredients can be created in space; scientists want to see if they also are present on Bennu .
Just put the model in the (new) download section - still figuring out how to put in a picture so here's one.
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