A Web Around Asteroid Bennu

This visualization depicts the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft’s trajectory around the asteroid Bennu from the initial arrival in Dec 2018 through the final departure in April 2021. The trajectory is presented in a Sun Bennu North reference frame. Several mission segments are highlighted in white, leading up to the TAG sample collection maneuver on Oct 20, 2020. || The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft arrived at near-Earth asteroid Bennu in December 2018. After studying the asteroid for nearly two years, the spacecraft successfully performed a Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection maneuver on October 20, 2020. The spacecraft will remain in asteroid Bennu’s vicinity until May 10, when the mission will enter its Return Cruise phase and begin its two-year journey back to Earth. This data visualization presents the mission’s complete trajectory during its time at Bennu. || This is a single layer of the Web Around Bennu visualization that includes just the asteroid and the orbit lines with a transparent background. || This is a single layer of the Web Around Bennu visualization that includes just the star background || This is a single layer of the Web Around Bennu visualization that includes just dates

1. Lauretta - OSIRIS-REx Orbit DiagramCredit: Mike Moreau/NASA || NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Aug. 11, to discuss an important finding from NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft.OSIRIS-REx spent over two years near the asteroid Bennu, which is a third of a mile (500 meters) wide. During that time, the spacecraft gathered information about Bennu’s size, shape, mass, and composition while monitoring its spin and orbital trajectory. Before leaving the near-Earth object May 10, 2021, the spacecraft scooped up a sample of rock and dust from the asteroid’s surface. OSIRIS-REx will return the sample to Earth Sept. 24, 2023, for further scientific study.The teleconference will stream live online at: http://www.nasa.gov/liveParticipants in the briefing will be:•Dante Lauretta, study co-author and OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson•Davide Farnocchia, study lead author and scientist with the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California•Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland•Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer at NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office at NASA Headquarters in WashingtonFor more information about the OSIRIS-REx mission to Bennu, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rexLearn more about asteroid Bennu’s updated impact hazard.Read the science paper on Icarus. || 2. Lauretta - Web Around Asteroid BennuBennu, Earth, and OSIRIS-REx Orbit DiagramCredit: NASA/Goddard/SVS || 3. Lauretta - OSIRIS-REx Returns to EarthArtist s return to Earth with a sample from Asteroid Bennu in September 2023.Credit: NASA/Goddard/CILabs || 1. Farnocchia- Bennu 2135 Orbit VisualizationCredit - NASA/Goddard || 2. Farnocchia - Bennu Keyhole Explainer AnimationIn 2135, asteroid Bennu will make a close flyby of Earth. Our planet’s gravity will tweak Bennu’s path, making it a challenge to calculate its future trajectory. During the flyby, Bennu has an extremely small chance of passing through a “gravitational keyhole” that would set it on a path to impact Earth late in the 22nd century.Credit: NASA/Goddard || 3. Farnocchia - Sunlight alters the orbit of a rotating asteroid (Yarkovsky effect). Credit: NASA/Goddard || 4. Farnocchia - Reducing Keyholes for BennuNew data from OSIRIS-REx allowed scientists to significantly reduce uncertainties in Bennu’s predicted orbit, ruling out a number of keyholes for the 2135 flyby, and eliminating several future impact scenarios.Credit: NASA/Goddard || 5. Farnocchia - Bennu 2182 Orbit VisualizationCredit: NASA/Goddard || 1. Dworkin - OSIRIS-REx Sample StowageImagery from the SamCam of OSIRIS-REx as it stows sample collected from asteroid Bennu.Credit: NASA/Goddard || 2. Dworkin - Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at Johnson Space CenterFootage of the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at Johnson Space Center, including lunar rock and soil samples undergoing processing.Credit: NASA/Goddard/JSC || 1. Johnson - NASA Planetary Defense BannerCredit: NASA || 2. Johnson - Planetary Defense Coordination Office LogoCredit: NASA