New NASA probe will return samples from distant asteroid
A visualisation of the OSIRIS-REx probe. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
By Vandana Gupta
NASA has announced it will launch a spacecraft to an asteroid in 2016. The mission, called the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (or OSIRIS-REx), will return samples of the near-Earth asteroid 1999 RQ36.
It will take the probe four years to reach 1999 RQ36. When it gets there it will manoeuvre down to the asteroid’s surface to collect a sample using a special robotic arm. The material will then be stowed away safely and sent back to Earth in its own sealed capsule, which will land at a site in Utah in 2023.
While visiting 1999 RQ36, OSIRIS-REx will also extensively map the asteroid, providing accurate data about its shape and surface characteristics. The 580-metre wide asteroid is thought to be rich in carbon. In studying it scientists from NASA hope to glean more information about what the early Solar System was like.
Asteroid hit
A bus-sized asteroid will pass over the Atlantic Monday morning, coming within 7,500 miles of the surface. That is nearer to us than the moon. It is the 5th nearest such occurrence recorded. I found this here: Fifth closest Asteroid recorded passes earth