OSIRIS-REx facts for kids
Artist's rendering of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft
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| Names | Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer; New Frontiers 3 |
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| Mission type | Asteroid sample return |
| Operator | NASA / Lockheed Martin |
| Website | asteroidmission.org |
| Mission duration | 7 years (planned) 505 days at asteroid 4 years, 5 months, 18 days (elapsed) 817 days at asteroid |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin |
| Launch mass | 2,110 kg (4,650 lb) |
| Dry mass | 880 kg (1,940 lb) |
| Dimensions | 2.44 × 2.44 × 3.15 m (8 ft 0 in × 8 ft 0 in × 10 ft 4 in) |
| Power | 1226 to 3000 W |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 8 September 2016, 23:05 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas V 411, AV-067 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 |
| Contractor | United Launch Alliance |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | Planned: 24 September 2023, 15:00 UTC |
| Landing site | Utah Test and Training Range |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Bennu-centric |
| Altitude | 0.68–2.1 km (0.42–1.30 mi) |
| Period | 22–62 hours |
| Flyby of Earth | |
| Closest approach | 22 September 2017 |
| Distance | 17,237 km (10,711 mi) |
| Bennu orbiter | |
| Orbital insertion | 31 December 2018 (Rendezvous: 3 December 2018) |
| Orbital departure | 3 March 2021 (planned) |
| Sample mass | 60 g (2.1 oz) (planned) |
.png){kind=logo} OSIRIS-REx mission logo New Frontiers program
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OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is a NASA asteroid-study and sample-return mission.
The mission's main goal is to get a sample of at least 60 g (2.1 oz) from 101955 Bennu, a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid, and return the sample to Earth for a detailed analysis.
The material returned is expected to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System, its initial stages of planet formation, and the source of organic compounds that led to the formation of life on Earth.
If successful, OSIRIS-REx will be the first United States spacecraft to return samples from an asteroid.
Images for kids
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Asteroid Bennu, imaged by the OSIRIS-REx probe, 3 December 2018
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Artist's concept of TAGSAM instrument in operation
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The final four candidate sample sites
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OSIRIS-REx successfully stows its sample of asteroid Bennu in October 2020.
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Artist's rendition of the Sample Return Capsule returning to Earth in 2023.
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Sample Return Capsule as seen by StowCam
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Imaging camera suite
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OVIRS
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OTES
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TAGSAM arm test before launch
