Freitag, 19. August 2016 - 08:15

Raumfahrt - OSIRIS-REx - ASTEROID SAMPLE RETURN MISSION Update 3

25.05.2016

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission Will Have a Map for That

On Sept. 8, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to launch for terra incognita: the unknown surface of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. Like expeditions of old, OSIRIS-REx’s mission includes mapping the exotic terrain it explores.

Bennu is part of the debris left over from the formation of the solar system and is pristine enough to hold clues to that very early history. OSIRIS-REx – which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer – will study Bennu in detail and collect a sample to send to Earth for in-depth analysis. The mission also will investigate how pressure from sunlight influences the path of this traveling asteroid.

“I like to say the first thing any explorer does upon reaching a new land is to start making maps,” said Ed Beshore, deputy principal investigator of OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The mapping of the near-Earth asteroid Bennu is one of the science goals of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, and an integral part of spacecraft operations. The spacecraft will spend a year surveying Bennu before collecting a sample that will be returned to Earth for analysis.

Credits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

For OSIRIS-REx, mapping is mission-critical. It’s one of the primary science goals and an integral part of spacecraft operations. The spacecraft will spend a year flying in close proximity to Bennu – its five instruments imaging the asteroid, documenting its lumpy shape, and surveying its chemical and physical properties.

This information will be used to produce four top-level maps for identifying the site where sample will be collected. These maps will indicate which sites are scientifically most valuable, where the spacecraft can touch the asteroid safely, where navigation can deliver the spacecraft, and where there is enough loose rock that can be collected.

About a dozen potential sampling sites will be chosen to start. Once this list has been winnowed down, reconnaissance maps will provide detailed views of the few remaining candidates. Later, after the sampling is done, the team will refine some maps to provide context for laboratory analysis of the material and to aid future studies of asteroids.

“Each map will pull together different kinds of data to answer an independent question,” said Lucy Lim, OSIRIS-REx assistant project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

One top-level map will deal with the safety of the spacecraft. The team has to make sure OSIRIS-REx won’t encounter hazards as it approaches Bennu and executes its touch-and-go – or TAG – maneuver. A mechanical arm that functions like a pogo stick will be extended from the spacecraft. The spacecraft will slowly approach the asteroid until the sample head at the end of the arm “kisses” the surface. Then, OSIRIS-REx will move away from the asteroid.

The target area for TAG will be a circle that measures 164 feet (50 meters) across.

“We have to be able to say with a high degree of confidence that the spacecraft will be safe if it touches the surface anywhere within that circle,” said David Lorenz, OSIRIS-REx TAG lead at Goddard.

To determine that, the team will look at the tilt of the landscape, temperature readings, and whether plumes of material are coming off the asteroid. Another consideration will be the amount of light reflected by the surface. That’s important because OSIRIS-REx will bounce laser signals off the surface. If an area is too dark, there won’t be enough return signal; an area that’s too bright will blind the detector.

Hazards such as large boulders and steep cliffs will be identified at a different stage.

Another top-level map will address the ability to deliver OSIRIS-REx to its target. This is primarily a navigation question: Can the spacecraft be brought to a target site at the correct speed? (Both vertical speed and sideways speed matter.) If not, the spacecraft will be in danger of crashing or tipping over in a so-called stubbed-toe scenario.

Bennu’s mass makes navigating a particular challenge. The asteroid will be one of the smallest objects ever visited by a planetary spacecraft. Bennu has very little gravity – so little that pressure from sunlight on OSIRIS-REx will almost equal the force of Bennu’s gravity. To stay in orbit, the spacecraft will have to remain within a mile and a half (about 2.4 kilometers) of Bennu. Any farther than that, and the pressure from sunlight will push it away from the asteroid.

“The bottom line is that we’re paying a lot more attention to modeling very small accelerations, such as those exerted by solar radiation pressure, than previous missions have had to do,” said Michael Moreau, OSIRIS-REx flight dynamics system manager at Goddard.

The third of these maps will determine where the right kind of surface material is located. The sample head, which looks like a big automotive air filter, can take in dirt, dust and bits of gravel measuring less than three-fourths of an inch (2 centimeters). At least 2 ounces (60 grams) of material needs to be collected, but the sample head can hold up to 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms).

“Our goal is to maximize the amount of sample for OSIRIS-REx,” said Kevin Walsh, an OSIRIS-REx co-investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “We have tested the sample head in the lab and know how it performs, and we will hunt for the right sort of environment on Bennu.”

To find that, the team will look at images, tilt measurements and thermal information, which reveals how the material on the surface stores and releases heat. Coarser, rockier grains will absorb more heat from the sun and give it off slowly during the asteroid’s night. Fine-grained particles will lose heat very quickly once they are out of the sunlight.

The fourth top-level map will evaluate the scientific value of the surface on Bennu. From remote observations, the team assumes that Bennu should contain water and organic – or carbon-rich – material, but they don’t know yet how this material is distributed across the surface.

“Some of the most interesting sites will be those that offer fresh material – perhaps exposed by an impact, a crack or plume activity like comets have – and those with diverse material,” said Keiko Nakamura-Messenger, OSIRIS-REx sample site scientist and the deputy lead for curation at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We also believe the coldest place has higher science value, because that is where organics are likely to be better preserved.”

To figure this out, the team will look at geological features, mineralogy, chemical composition and temperature.

All of these maps will be built on a 3-D shape model of Bennu. The team is already using a preliminary shape model, produced from radar observations of the asteroid. But a new shape model with much higher resolution will be made once OSIRIS-REx surveys Bennu.

“The shape model is the framework – the one piece every map needs to have,” said Eric Palmer, an OSIRIS-REx collaborator at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson. “It also provides a way of correcting scientific observations so that you can make apples-to-apples comparisons.”

The team has two ways of deriving the detailed shape of Bennu. One is to make precise measurements of the round-trip distance from the spacecraft to the asteroid using the on-board laser altimeter. The other is the so-called shape-by-shading technique – or stereophotoclinometry – which deduces the 3-D lay of the land from multiple images taken from different angles under a range of lighting conditions.

Beshore pointed out one more reason to put all this effort into mapping. “These maps of Bennu are going to be beautiful,” he said.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta is the mission's principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver is building the spacecraft. 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.

Launch management is the responsibility of NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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NASA's OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Prepared for Mission to an Asteroid

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is revealed after its protective cover is removed inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on May 21, 2016. The spacecraft traveled from Lockheed Martin's facility near Denver, Colorado to Kennedy to begin processing for its upcoming launch, targeted for Sept. 8 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. After launch, OSIRIS-REx - which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer - has an approximately two-year cruise to reach the asteroid Bennu in 2018.

Upon arrival, OSIRIS-REx will spend a year flying in close proximity to Bennu, its five instruments imaging the asteroid, documenting its lumpy shape, and surveying its chemical and physical properties. In 2020, OSIRIS-REx will collect a pristine sample of at least two ounces of the asteroid's surface material that will be returned back to Earth in 2023 for analysis. Bennu is part of the debris left over from the formation of the solar system. It is pristine enough to hold clues to solar system's origin and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Quelle: NASA

Update: 3.06.2016

OSIRIS-REx Arrives at Kennedy for Launch Processing

The spacecraft that will perform NASA’s Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security — Regolith Explorer mission, known as OSIRIS-REx, arrived at Kennedy Space Center from Buckley Air Force Base near Denver on May 20 aboard an Air Force C-17 at the Shuttle Landing Facility.

OSIRIS-Rex, which came out of the shipping container May 21, will go onto a rotation fixture on May 23 and have a spin test May 24-25. It then will be hoisted onto a dolly May 26 for other upcoming activities. A partial solar array deployment test is scheduled on May 31.

“This team has done a phenomenal job of assembling and testing the spacecraft,” said Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona, Tucson. “As we begin the final preparations for launch, I am confident that this spacecraft is ready to perform its science operations at Bennu. And I can’t wait to fly it.”

OSIRIS-Rex is scheduled to launch Sept. 8 at 7:05 p.m. EDT aboard an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The Atlas V has proven a reliable option for NASA's Launch Services Program, or LSP, the organization that oversees NASA launches and chooses the best launchers for different spacecraft. The mission has a 34-day launch window beginning Sept. 8.

As planned, the spacecraft will reach its near-Earth asteroid target, called Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36), in 2018. Once within three miles of the asteroid, the spacecraft will begin six months of comprehensive surface mapping. Bennu is about 1,900 feet in diameter or roughly the size of six football fields. The asteroid, a little altered over time, is likely to represent a snapshot of our solar system’s infancy.

The science team then will pick a location 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 at least a 2.1-ounce sample for return to Earth in 2023. 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.

Quelle: NASA

Update: 29.06.2016

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Gears up for 3-D Mapping on the Fly

Scheduled for launch on Sept. 8, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission will travel to an asteroid, study it and return a sample to Earth for analysis. All of these goals depend on accurate mapping of the target, Bennu, so the team is gearing up for the challenges of cartography of an asteroid.

“Mapping of Bennu is necessary, of course, but it’s also an exciting and technically interesting aspect of the mission,” said Ed Beshore, OSIRIS-REx deputy principal investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The mission is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The maps will be generated using information gathered by the five instruments aboard OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer. Upon its rendezvous with Bennu, the spacecraft will spend a year surveying the asteroid for both scientific and operations purposes – including searching for plumes of material coming from the asteroid, measuring non-gravitational forces acting on Bennu, and identifying the best location to collect a sample.

Most of the mapping work will be done during this survey phase. The team will document the shape of the asteroid, generate a suite of top-level maps, and perform reconnaissance on the final few candidates on the list of possible sampling sites. The reconnaissance maps will be so detailed that team members will be able to spot individual pebbles measuring about three-fourths of an inch (2 centimeters) across – roughly the maximum size of material that the sampling head can collect.

“Everything the spacecraft learns will be woven together like a tapestry to tell the story of Bennu,” said Kevin Walsh, an OSIRIS-REx co-investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

In the meantime, the groundwork for mapping is being laid.

The underlying framework is a 3-D shape model. This step is crucial because asteroids, unlike planets and moons, aren’t nice and round. They tend to be bumpy and irregular, often like potatoes. Bennu is more of a lumpy ball that gets thicker around the middle – a shape astronomers compare to a spinning top.

This rough shape was determined from radar studies conducted from Earth since the asteroid’s discovery in 1999. After OSIRIS-REx surveys Bennu, a new model that captures the subtleties of the asteroid’s shape will be developed.

For the global maps, information from the spacecraft’s instruments will be overlaid on the shape model. The team plans to incorporate some of these 3-D maps as a routine part of mission-critical operations. Three top-level operations maps are planned: one to evaluate which areas are safe enough to allow the spacecraft to move close to the asteroid, one to determine where the sampling arm can make good contact with the surface to perform its touch-and-go maneuver, and one to indicate where to find the material most suitable for sampling. A fourth top-level map will evaluate how scientifically valuable different regions of the asteroid are.

“These four maps will be the key to selecting a sampling site,” said Lucy Lim, OSIRIS-REx assistant project scientist at Goddard. “To make sure the map-making goes smoothly once we arrive at Bennu, we started developing the algorithms and practicing all the steps long before launch.”

Preparations also include establishing map conventions, such as specifying which of Bennu’s poles is north. The team based this decision on the direction of the asteroid’s rotation – a choice that fits with guidelines from the International Astronomical Union. Bennu spins in the direction opposite to Earth, so the asteroid’s poles are reversed compared to our planet’s poles.

The location of Bennu’s prime meridian – zero degrees longitude – also has been chosen. It runs through a large bump seen on the preliminary shape model. Later, this selection will be refined, or perhaps redefined, depending on what Bennu looks like up close.

“We make as many decisions about mapping as we can ahead of time, because the work will be intensive once we arrive at Bennu,” said Daniella DellaGiustina, the OSIRIS-REx lead image processing scientist at the University of Arizona. “But we have to allow some flexibility to make changes later, if we need to.”

Navigation is another special consideration when mapping Bennu. Because the asteroid is so small, its gravitational force is very weak, accounting for only about half of the total force the orbiting spacecraft will feel when it’s close to Bennu. The other half will come from pressure due to sunlight on the surface of the spacecraft.

The pressure exerted by sunlight is difficult to model, so the navigation team will have to perform frequent updates – perhaps daily. The instrument teams will have to adjust quickly to the changes in plans.

“This won’t be an orbit the way we usually think of one – that’s how important this force will be,” said Michael Moreau, OSIRIS-REx flight dynamics system manager at Goddard. “OSIRIS-REx is going to take this work to a new level at Bennu.”

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta is the mission's principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver is building the spacecraft. 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.

Launch management is the responsibility of NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Quelle: NASA

Update: 12.07.2016

NASA Instrument to Use X-Rays to Map an Asteroid

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will launch September 2016 and travel to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu to harvest a sample of surface material and return it to Earth for study. But before the science team selects a sample site, they can find out a bit about Bennu's elemental make-up.

To determine the composition of Bennu's surface, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) team equipped the spacecraft with an instrument that will identify which elements are present on the asteroid and measure their abundance.

The Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer, or REXIS can image X-ray emission from Bennu in order to provide an elemental abundance map of the asteroid's surface.

"REXIS is different from the other imaging instruments on OSIRIS-REx because we're going to determine what Bennu is made of at the level of individual atomic elements," said Richard Binzel, REXIS principal investigator and instrument scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge. "We're sniffing the atoms on the surface of Bennu."

To do that, REXIS gets a little help from the sun. Atoms on Bennu's surface absorb incoming solar X-rays that are emitted along with the solar wind. This causes electrons in the atom to move to a higher energy level. However, because these excited electrons are unstable, they quickly de-excite and drop back down to their original energy level and emit their own X-ray in turn. This process is known as fluorescence.

"You have all this energy coming in, and it kicks electrons up to the next energy level, but the electrons quickly decay back down and emit X-rays of precisely that same energy," said Josh Grindlay, REXIS co-principal investigator and deputy instrument scientist at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. "The net result is a glowing surface on Bennu."

The energies of the re-emitted X-rays are characteristic of the elements from which they came. Elements absorb and re-emit X-rays at different, specific energies. The energies that the science team will see glowing at Bennu's surface will tell the researchers which elements are present.

In order to map these emitted X-rays, REXIS is fitted with what's known as a coded aperture mask. The mask consists of a pattern of pinholes that, when X-rays shine through, creates a shadow pattern on REXIS' detector.

Imagine sitting in your bedroom at night and a car drives by. The headlights cast a pattern of light and shadow on the walls. As the car moves, so do the shadows. In REXIS' case, it's the spacecraft that moves over the asteroid surface. The changing shadow patterns allow the team to identify any particular bright spots on Bennu that might be especially abundant in a certain element.

REXIS was selected as a Student Collaboration Experiment for the OSIRIS-REx mission. Built by a team from MIT and Harvard, students will perform data analysis of REXIS as part of their coursework.

"This has been an amazing experience for the students," said Rebecca Masterson, REXIS co-principal investigator and instrument manager at MIT. "They get to see how a mission evolves and what it takes to get to the point of launch. They're getting to see how an idea goes from conception to completion and actually play a role in its success."

More than 100 students will have been involved in REXIS upon the completion of the OSIRIS-REx mission.

"Even though OSIRIS-REx hasn't left the ground, I think REXIS is already a success," said David Miller, NASA's chief technologist and a former REXIS team lead at MIT. "We've inspired so many students. They are our next generation of space scientists and engineers, and they've already had a profound impact on our abilities to go further and explore deep space."

Quelle: NASA

Update: 25.07.2016

OSIRIS-REx Tech – Surveying an Asteroid with Light

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is on a mission explore to near-Earth asteroid Bennu, a carbon-rich body that may contain clues to the origins of life. OSIRIS-REx is equipped with a suite of technologies designed to map and study Bennu in unprecedented detail. The OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer, or OVIRS, will look at the asteroid's spectral signature to detect organics and other minerals. After OSIRIS-REx has thoroughly surveyed Bennu from orbit, will descend to the surface and collect a sample of the asteroid for return to Earth in 2023.

Quelle: NASA

Update: 8.08.2016

WHY BENNU?

HOW WAS BENNU CHOSEN?

The goal of the OSIRIS-REx mission is to collect a sample from an asteroid and bring it back to Earth. But just how did the OSIRIS-REx team choose Bennu from the over 500,000 known asteroids in the Solar System?

Proximity to Earth
The closest asteroids to Earth are called Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). As the name suggests, NEOs are objects that orbit within 1.3 AU of the Sun. (1 AU = the distance between Earth and the Sun, or ~93 million miles) For a sample return mission like OSIRIS-REx, the most accessible asteroids for a spacecraft to reach are located between 1.6 AU and 0.8 AU. The ideal asteroid has an Earth-like orbit with low eccentricity and inclination. At the time of the mission’s asteroid selection in 2008, there were over 7,000 known NEOs, but only 192 had orbits that met these criteria.
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Size
Asteroids with small diameters rotate more rapidly than those with large diameters. With a diameter less than 200 meters, an asteroid spins so rapidly that the loose material on its surface (regolith) can be ejected from it. The ideal asteroid has a diameter larger than 200 m so that a spacecraft can safely come into contact with it and collect a sufficient regolith sample. This size requirement reduced the number of candidate asteroids from 192 to 26.
Composition
Asteroids are divided into different types based on their chemical composition. The most primitive asteroids are carbon-rich and have not significantly changed since they formed nearly 4 billion years ago. These asteroids contain organic molecules, volatiles, and amino acids that may have been the precursors to life on Earth. Of the 26 asteroids left on the list, only 12 had a known composition, and only 5 were primitive and carbon-rich.

From these 5 asteroids, Bennu was selected. Bennu is a B-type asteroid with a ~500 meter diameter. It completes an orbit around the Sun every 436.604 days (1.2 years) and every 6 years comes very close to Earth, within 0.002 AU. These close encounters give Bennu a high probability of impacting Earth in the late 22nd century. Bennu’s size, primitive composition, and potentially hazardous orbit make it one of the most fascinating and accessible NEOs … and the ideal OSIRIS-REx target asteroid.

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Experience the Launch of NASA's First Ever Asteroid Sample Return Mission

Social media users are invited to apply for credentials to attend the targeted Sep. 8 launch of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. OSIRIS-REx is the first-ever NASA mission to travel to an asteroid, retrieve a sample, and return the sample to Earth.

If your passion is to communicate and engage the world via social media, then this is the event for you. Take the opportunity to be on the front line and share the excitement of the OSIRIS-REx launch with your followers on social media.

A maximum of 100 social media users will be selected to attend this two-day behind-the-scenes event on Sept. 7-8.

NASA Social participants will have the opportunity to:

view a launch of ULA Atlas V rocket
tour NASA facilities at Kennedy Space Center
hear from OSIRIS-REx scientists about what they hope to learn from this first-ever asteroid sample return mission
speak with representatives from NASA, ULA and Center for the Advancement of Science in Space.
view and take photographs of the Atlas V rocket on the launch pad
meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media
meet members of OSIRIS-REx, ULA and NASA's social media teams

Registration is now open on this page. For U.S. citizens active on social media, the deadline to apply is 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. All social media accreditation applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

APPLY NOW

What is the OSIRIS-Rex mission?

OSIRIS-REx is going to Bennu, a carbon-rich, near-Earth asteroid that records the earliest history of our solar system. Scientists expect that Bennu may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules that may have made their way to Earth.

After its arrival at Bennu in 2018, OSIRIS-REx will survey the asteroid’s surface, pick out a sample spot, scoop up at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of the asteroid, and send this "pristine sample" back to Earth. The sample, enclosed in a sample return capsule, will land in the Utah desert in September 2023.

Do I need to have a social media account to register?
Yes. This event is designed for people who:

actively use multiple social networking platforms and tools to disseminate information to a unique audience
regularly produce new content that features multimedia elements
have the potential to reach a large number of people using digital platforms
reach a unique audience, separate and distinctive from traditional news media and/or NASA audiences
have an established history of posting content on social media platforms
have previous postings that are highly visible, respected and widely recognized

Users on all social networks are encouraged to use the hashtag #NASASocial, and #ToBennuAndBack. Updates and information about the event will be shared on Twitter via @NASASocial, @OSIRISREx and @NASAKennedy, and via posts to Facebook and Google+.

How do I register?
Registration is now open on this page. For U.S. citizens active on social media, the deadline to apply is 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. Registration is for one person only and is non-transferable. Each individual wishing to attend must register separately. Each application will be evaluated on its merit and ability to meet the criteria as outlined above.

Can I register if I am not a U.S. citizen?
Social media credentialing for international guests for this NASA Social Media event is closed.

When will I know if I am selected?
After registrations have been received and processed, an email with confirmation information and additional instructions will be sent to those selected and those on the waitlist. We expect to send notifications no later than Aug. 26.

What are NASA Social media credentials?
Social media credentials give users a chance to apply for similar access as journalists in an effort to align the access and experience of social media representatives with those of traditional media. People who actively collect, report, analyze and disseminate news on social networking platforms are encouraged to apply for media credentials. Selection is not random. All social media accreditation applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Those chosen must prove through the registration process they meet specific engagement criteria.

If you do not make the registration list for this NASA Social, you still can attend the launch and participate in the conversation online. Find out about ways to experience a launch at http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/launchingrockets/viewing.html.

What are the registration requirements?
Registration indicates your intent to travel to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and attend the two-day event in person. You are responsible for your own expenses for travel, accommodation, food and other amenities.

Some events and participants scheduled to appear at the event are subject to change without notice. NASA is not responsible for loss or damage incurred as a result of attending. NASA, moreover, is not responsible for loss or damage incurred if the event is cancelled with limited or no notice. Please plan accordingly.

Kennedy is a government facility. Those who are selected will need to complete an additional registration step to receive clearance to enter the secure areas. IMPORTANT: To be admitted, you will need to provide two forms of unexpired government-issued identification; one must be a photo ID and match the name provided on the registration. Those without proper identification cannot be admitted. For a complete list of acceptable forms of ID, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/i-9_poster_acceptable_documents_2014_04_23.pdf

All registrants must be at least 18 years old.

To be admitted, you must provide two unexpired forms of government-issued identifications; one must be a photo ID and match the name you provided on the registration. For a complete list of acceptable forms of ID, please visit: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/i-9_poster_acceptable_documents_2014_04_23.pdf

KSC Badging Office does not accept driver’s licenses or identity cards from the following states:

American Samoa
Minnesota

As a caveat, Minnesota offers an Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL), which will be acceptable. EDLs are identifiable by the American Flag on the face of the card. You may find out more information about the REAL ID Act by going to: http://www.dhs.gov/real-id-public-faqs

What if the spacecraft's launch date changes?
A number of different factors can cause a scheduled launch date to change multiple times, with the launch window open from Sep. 8 until Oct. 12. The launch date will not be official until after the Flight Readiness Review. If the launch date changes prior to then, NASA may adjust the date of the NASA Social accordingly to coincide with the new target launch date. NASA will notify registrants of any changes by email.

If the launch is postponed on Sep. 8, attendees will be invited to attend a later launch date. NASA cannot accommodate attendees for delays beyond 72 hours.

NASA Social attendees are responsible for any additional costs they incur related to any launch delay. We strongly encourage participants to make travel arrangements that are refundable and/or flexible.

Does registration for and/or attendance at the NASA Social qualify me for media accreditation?
No, your registration and/or attendance does not qualify you for news media credentials at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, now or in the future.

What if I cannot come to the Kennedy Space Center?
If you cannot come to the Kennedy Space Center and attend in person, you should not register for the NASA Social. You can follow the conversation using the #NASASocial hashtag on Twitter. You can watch the launch on Sep. 8 on NASA-TV or nasa.gov. NASA will provide regular launch and mission updates on @NASA and @NASAKennedy.

Quelle: NASA

Update: 13.08.2016

Photos: Solar arrays attached to asteroid-bound OSIRIS-REx spacecraft

At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, workers have finished the pre-launch assembly and fueling of OSIRIS-REx for the asteroid sample return spacecraft for liftoff Sept. 8.

The probe will launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket en route to Asteroid Bennu to capture a specimen for return to Earth.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the two power-producing solar arrays were attached to the spacecraft’s body on Aug. 2. Once deployed in space, the wings will measure 20.25 feet tip-to-tip to generate electricity to power the mission.

This week, the Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle was stacked in the nearby Vertical Integration Facility at Complex 41. And OSIRIS-REx was loaded with 2,700 pounds of propellant that will be used to maneuver the spacecraft into orbit around Bennu and boost the craft back to Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

OSIRIS-REx coverage.

Quelle:SN

Update: 19.08.2016

ALL SYSTEMS GO’ FOR OSIRIS-REX LAUNCH IN SEPTEMBER

An artist’s rendering of OSIRIS-REx orbiting asteroid 101955 Bennu. Image Credit: NASA

Program managers from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx team provided a status update at a public briefing on the agency’s $800 million mission to launch a spacecraft to asteroid Bennu and return with samples in 2023. Dwayne Brown from NASA’s Office of Communications summarized the status by saying, “All systems are go for a launch on Sept. 8 in Florida.”

THE MISSION

The spacecraft, which travels under the hefty name of Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security REgolith Explorer, will take a gradual approach to its target, a 4.5 billion-year-old, 1,640-foot (500-meter) asteroid, by swinging around the Sun and using the Earth for a gravitational assist in before arriving at its target in 2018.

image: http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/OSIRIS-REx-spacecraft-655x360.jpg

Image Credit: NASA

Once in orbit, the spacecraft will use multiple instruments to study the chemical composition of the asteroid’s surface in the visible, infrared, and X-ray spectral bands for up to two years. Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid, is expected to include organic material in its makeup that could have had a role in the origins of life on Earth.

According to the mission’s principal investigator, Dante Lauretta from the University of Arizona-Tucson, the samples can help solve the puzzle of “how we are here, why we are here, and how likely it is that this kind of process – the origin and evolution of life – may have happened elsewhere in the Solar System and even throughout the galaxy.”

Bennu is also interesting from a practical point of view. While NASA will be investigating how it formed, companies such as Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources, which are hoping to mine asteroids, will be interested in learning how well OSIRIS-REx performs proximity operations near the asteroid as well as what there that’s worth mining.

On the “Security” side of the mission, OSIRIS-REx will be studying something called the Yarkovsky effect, where heat from the Sun is radiated into space as the asteroid rotates, acting as a thruster. This effect, if detected, could help better identify how asteroids travel along their orbits, making them easier to detect and track. The “thruster” effect could also be useful should we ever need to change a potentially hazardous asteroid’s orbit.

“The science team took into account three criteria when making that selection: accessibility of the asteroid, size of the asteroid, and composition,” said Christina Richey, NASA’s Deputy Program Scientists, explaining why Bennu was chosen as the mission’s destination.

In the case of accessibility, the target asteroid had to be reached, sampled, and returned from within a few years’ time. In terms of size, the target had to be compatible with operations near the asteroid (orbit) and on it (sampling). Smaller asteroids – less than 656 feet or 200 meters in diameter – spin too quickly for useful operations. Regarding composition, the goal was to find a carbon-rich asteroid from the Solar System’s early formation. Bennu fit all of these categories.

PICKING UP SOME DUST

Illustration of OSIRIS-REx spacecraft at Bennu. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin

An artist’s rendering of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft at Bennu on approach to pick up samples. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin

Because Bennu’s gravity is much smaller than a planet’s, OSIRIS-REx will be able to do something most NASA orbiters can’t: capture surface samples. Lauretta explained, “We’re seeking samples that date back to the very origin of our solar system.”

Once the orbital survey has been completed around 2020 and scientists have selected the ideal site, the spacecraft will match Bennu’s rate of spin and drop toward the surface at a leisurely quarter mile per hour (10 centimeters per second) before reaching out to touch the surface with something called the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism or TAGSAM.

TAGSAM is an articulated 11-foot (3.4-meter) pole with a sampling device at the end. When OSIRIS-REx gets close to the surface, the TAGSAM arm will extend, gently touch (“high five”) the surface with a 12-inch (30-centimeter) diameter sample head, and blast the surface with pure nitrogen gas. This will kick up regolith and dust from the surface into the collector. The sample is then brought back aboard the spacecraft.

The minimum sample size for the mission is expected to be around 2 ounces (60 grams), although in testing the sampler typically picked up 5–10 ounces (150–300 grams) of material. The Sample Return Capsule itself can handle up to 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of material.

The entire “touch and go” operation will last only about five seconds. After collecting its sample, OSIRIS-REx will go back to orbiting the asteroid. When the time is right, the spacecraft will fire its main engine for its return to Earth. In response to a Spaceflight Insider question, NASA explained that OSIRIS-REx uses a blow-down hydrazine monopropellant propulsion system to maneuver, with its thrusters generating from 0.04 to 45 pounds (0.2 to 200 newtons) of force .

OSIRIS-REx will leave Bennu orbit sometime between March 2021 and April 2022 and return to Earth around Sept. 24, 2023. Once the Sample Return Capsule is jettisoned, the spacecraft will be directed into an orbit around the Sun. The capsule will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and land via atmospheric and parachute braking at the Utah Test and Training Range. Samples will then be brought to Johnson Space Center for curation and study.

Part of the samples collected (4 percent) will go to Canada due to their role creating the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) instrument. Another half a percent of the sample will

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