OSIRIS-REx: X Marks the Spot - 2019 AGU Press Conference
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- Visualizations by:
- Walt Feimer and
- Kel Elkins
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- Graphics:
- Heather Roper
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- Produced by:
- Dan Gallagher
- View full credits
The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft launched on Sept. 8, 2016, and arrived at asteroid Bennu on Dec. 3, 2018. In mid-2020, it will briefly touch down on Bennu’s surface and collect a sample for return to Earth in late 2023.
The mission represents a valuable opportunity to learn more about the origins of our solar system, the sources of water and organic molecules on Earth, and the hazards and resources in near-Earth space.
The briefing participants are:
Lori Glaze, director of planetary science for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters
Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson
Dani DellaGiustina, OSIRIS-REx image processing lead scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson
Mike Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
For more information, go to nasa.gov/osirisrex or asteroidmission.org
- Moreau - This image shows sample site Nightingale overlaid with a simplified hazard map. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft uses this map to autonomously detect surface hazards, such as boulders or rocks, while it descends to collect a sample. The green illustrates areas that are free of hazards, and means the spacecraft will continue to the surface. Yellow demonstrates cautionary areas, and red areas contain the most hazards. If the spacecraft predicts it will touch either a yellow or red area, it will stop its descent and back away.
Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
For More Information
See NASA.gov
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Animators
- Walt Feimer (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
- Michael Lentz (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Data visualizer
- Kel Elkins (USRA) [Lead]
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Graphics
- Heather Roper (The University of Arizona) [Lead]
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Presenters
- Daniella DellaGiustina (The University of Arizona/LPL)
- Dante Lauretta (The University of Arizona)
- Lori S. Glaze (NASA/HQ Planetary Science)
- Michael Moreau (NASA/GSFC)
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Producer
- Dan Gallagher (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
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Technical support
- Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
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Communications
- Erin Morton (The University of Arizona)
- Nancy Neal-Jones (NASA/GSFC)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Related pages
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ID: 13724 Produced Video
OSIRIS-REx: Countdown to TAG
Read moreTrailer for the OSIRIS-REx TAG EventUniversal Production Music: "The Glory of Victory" by Frederik WiedmannCredit: NASA/Goddard || Download recorded audio from this media teleconference. (Right-click and select "Save Link As...").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.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 SpaceFor more information, go to nasa.gov/osiris-rex or asteroidmission.org. ||
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ID: 4857 Animation
OSIRIS-REx – Detailed Global Views of Asteroid Bennu
Read moreLooping animation of asteroid Bennu rotating. This 3D model of Bennu was created using 20cm resolution laser altimetry data and imagery taken by OSIRIS-REx. ||
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ID: 13565 Produced Video
Asteroid Bennu: Selecting Site Nightingale
Read moreAfter a year of studying asteroid Bennu, the OSIRIS-REx mission chose a location called “Nightingale” as the primary sample collection site.Universal Production Music: “Extreme Measures” by John Sands and Marc Ferrari, “Ice Echoes” by Dominik Luke Marsden Johnson, “Look at the Mirror” by Jonathan FigoliWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || OSIRIS-REx is a NASA mission to explore near-Earth asteroid Bennu and return a sample to Earth. Prior to arriving at Bennu, mission planners had expected the asteroid’s surface to consist largely of fine particulate material, similar to gravel. When OSIRIS-REx arrived in December 2018, however, it was greeted by a rocky world covered with boulders.This unexpected ruggedness means that there are few places on Bennu where OSIRIS-REx can safely touch down and collect a sample. After a year of studying the asteroid, the mission announced a primary sample collection site, which they designated “Nightingale,” along with a backup site called “Osprey.” In October 2020, OSIRIS-REx will descend to Bennu and attempt to collect up to four-and-a-half pounds of loose material, for return to Earth in 2023.Learn more about the selection of sample site Nightingale. ||
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ID: 4795 Animation
OSIRIS-REx – Global Model of Asteroid Bennu
Read moreLooping animation of asteroid Bennu rotating. This 3D model of Bennu was created using 20cm resolution laser altimetry data and imagery taken by OSIRIS-REx. ||
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ID: 13504 Produced Video
![NASA Science Live: OSIRIS-REx - X Marks the Spot [Episode 13]Air Date: December, 12, 2019Watch this video on the ScienceAtNASA YouTube channel.](/vis/a010000/a013500/a013504/NSL_ep13_still_print.jpg)
NASA Science Live: OSIRIS-REx - X Marks the Spot (Episode 13)
Read moreNASA Science Live: OSIRIS-REx - X Marks the Spot [Episode 13]Air Date: December, 12, 2019Watch this video on the ScienceAtNASA YouTube channel. || This episode of NASA Science Live is broadcasting live from AGU in San Francisco. We have breaking news on our satellite OSIRIS-REx which is orbiting an asteroid named Bennu - and some of its mineral fragments could be older than the solar system itself. These microscopic grains of dust could be the same ones that spewed from dying stars and eventually came together to make the Sun and its planets nearly 4.6 billion years ago. And today we'll announce the site where OSIRIS-REx will attempt to collect at least 30 sugar packets worth of dirt and rocks from Bennu's surface. ||
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ID: 13429 Produced Video
OSIRIS-REx Sample Site Selection Trailer
Read moreTrailer for the sample site selection announcement for OSIRIS-REx, set to take place on December 12, 2019 at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST at AGU in San Francisco.Music is "Oceana" from Universal Production Music. || On September 8, 2016 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, OSIRIS-REx began its journey – the most ambitious sample collection mission since the Apollo Program. After two years, the spacecraft arrived at its destination, asteroid Bennu. As OSIRIS-REx drew near, Bennu grew in detail from a few tiny pixels to a surprisingly rugged world, littered with giant boulders. The spacecraft has used its instrumentation to map the asteroid from all sides. The science team has been analyzing the data to select the best sample site. Now, with just months to go before sample collection, the team has narrowed its target down to four potential sites: Osprey, Kingfisher, Nightingale, and Sandpiper. Tune in to nasa.gov/live on Thursday, December 12 at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST to see the sample site selection announcement. ||
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ID: 13428 Produced Video
Surprises from Asteroid Bennu
Read moreRecapping surprises at Bennu and achievements of the OSIRIS-REx mission before the final sample site announcement. Music is "Growing Idea" from Universal Production Music. || The OSIRIS-REx team has already pushed the boundaries of scientific exploration - going from ground-based radar images from Arecibo in Puerto Rico all the way to orbiting a few hundred meters from asteroid Bennu. The team is mere months away from a sample collection attempt at the asteroid surface. Before this attempt, we take a look back at some of the major achievements, surprises, and challenges of sampling an asteroid with OSIRIS-REx. ||
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ID: 12658 Produced Video
OSIRIS-REx Arrives at Bennu -- 2018 AGU Press Conference
Read moreNASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission presented the science results gained during the spacecraft’s approach toward the asteroid Bennu at a press conference hosted during AGU’s Fall Meeting at 2 p.m. ET, Monday, Dec. 10.The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft, which launched on Sept. 8, 2016, started asteroid science operations on Aug. 17, 2018, while still 1.4 million miles from the asteroid Bennu. Between that time and the spacecraft’s arrival at Bennu on Dec. 3, the mission made a number of discoveries about the asteroid. The mission represents a valuable opportunity to learn more about the origins of our solar system, the sources of water and organic molecules on Earth, and the hazards and resources in near-Earth space. The briefing participants are:Jeffrey Grossman, OSIRIS-REx program scientist at NASA HeadquartersDante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, TucsonAmy Simon, OVIRS deputy instrument scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Michael Nolan, OSIRIS-REx science team chief at the University of Arizona, TucsonFor more information, go to nasa.gov/osiris-rex or asteroidmission.org. ||
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ID: 4792 Animation
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ID: 4771 Animation
OSIRIS-REx – Asteroid Bennu Sample Site Flyovers
Read moreGlobal view of asteroid Bennu with insets of the four candidate sample collection sites. This animation is available in Hyperwall resolution (5760x3240).This video is also available on our YouTube channel. || When NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu in December 2018, its close-up images confirmed what mission planners had predicted nearly two decades before: Bennu is made of loose material weakly clumped together by gravity, and shaped like a spinning top. This major validation, however, was accompanied by a major surprise. Scientists had expected Bennu’s surface to consist of fine-grained material like a sandy beach, but instead OSIRIS-REx was greeted by a rugged world littered with boulders – the size of cars, the size of houses, the size of football fields.The main science goal of OSIRIS-REx is to briefly touch down on Bennu and collect a sample for return to Earth, but the asteroid’s unexpected roughness could pose a hazard to the spacecraft. Areas for safely touching down are fewer and smaller than anticipated, and OSIRIS-REx will have to navigate to them with unprecedented accuracy.In mid-2019, mission planners identified four candidate sample collection sites, and named them after birds that can be found in Egypt: Osprey, Kingfisher, Nightingale, and Sandpiper. In December 2019, mission planners announced that they had selected Nightingale as the primary sample collection site, and Osprey as the backup. Late in 2020, OSIRIS-REx will descend to Bennu's surface and collect a sample of pristine material from the origins of the solar system that will be studied on Earth for decades to come.The 3D animations on this page were created using laser altimetry data and imagery of Bennu taken by OSIRIS-REx. The animations are available in Hyperwall resolution (5760x3240). ||
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