OSIRIS-REx Earth Gravity Assist
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- Visualizations by:
- Michael Lentz
- View full credits
When OSIRIS-REx flies by Earth on September 22, 2017, it will use our planet's gravity as a slingshot to catch asteroid Bennu. Complete transcript available.
Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.
Music provided by Killer Tracks:
"Origin" by Axel Tenner, Michael Schluecker, and Raphael Schalz
Read more about the Earth gravity assist, or visit the NASA and University of Arizona mission websites.
For More Information
See NASA.gov
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
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Animators
- Michael Lentz (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
- Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Krystofer Kim (KBRwyle)
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Project scientist
- Jason Dworkin (NASA/GSFC)
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Producer
- Dan Gallagher (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Aerospace engineer
- Dolan Highsmith (Aerospace Corp)
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Flight dynamics system
- Michael Moreau (NASA/GSFC)
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Principal investigator
- Dante Lauretta (The University of Arizona)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Related pages
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ID: 20381 Animation
OSIRIS-REx Sample Return: Animations
Read moreRide along with OSIRIS-REx on the thrilling finale of its journey to Bennu and back.Universal Production Music: “Rise to the Challenge” by Daniel Marantz and Michael James Burns, Raydia Music library [PRS]; “Fragments of Time” by Timothy Robert Shortell, Scores of Hypersonic Music [BMI]Watch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel. ||
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ID: 4905 Animation
A Web Around Asteroid Bennu – Visualizations
Read moreThis 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. ||
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ID: 4744 Animation
OSIRIS-REx - Asteroid Bennu Sample Site Finalists
Read moreThe visualization begins with a rotating 3D model representation of the asteroid Bennu, created using data from the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) instrument. Four candidate sample sites (with labels) are highlighted with PolyCam images.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || OSIRIS-REx is a mission to study and map near-Earth asteroid Bennu. Its primary science objective is to collect a sample of Bennu in mid 2020 and return it to Earth in late 2023. In preparation, mission planners have identified four candidate sample sites on Bennu's rocky surface where OSIRIS-REx could briefly touch down to collect its sample. The mission will down-select to the final two sites – a primary and a backup – in December 2019. Like the mythological Bennu bird for which the asteroid is named, all of the candidate sample sites refer to birds that can be found in Egypt.Learn more about the candidate sample sites on Bennu. ||
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ID: 4482 Animation
OSIRIS-REx orbits, maneuvers, and mapping
Read moreThe Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer spacecraft will travel to a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36), and bring at least a 2.1-ounce sample back to Earth for study. 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.OSIRIS-REx launched on Sept. 8, 2016, at 7:05 p.m. EDT. As planned, the spacecraft will reach its target asteroid in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023. These animations depict the journey of OSIRIS-REx to Bennu and back, including the complex maneuvers that the spacecraft will perform in the asteroid's low-gravity environment. The animations are presented in chronological order. ||
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ID: 20255 Animation
OSIRIS-REx Mission Design: Sample Acquisition Campaign
Read moreAfter nine months in orbit around asteroid Bennu, OSIRIS-REx will begin the process of maneuvering closer to the surface in preparation of the sample collection event. Once the sample site has been selected, OSIRIS-REx will break from its polar orbit to practice three flyovers of the site at increasing proximities, eventually matching Bennu's speed and rotation. The narrow-angle PolyCam will image the sample site at sub-centimeter resolution during these close passes.When OSIRIS-REx is ready, it will slowly descend to Bennu's surface at a few centimeters per second. Its outstretched arm will touch down and blow high-pressure nitrogen gas into Bennu's soil. This will force loose dust, dirt, and rocks upward into the TAGSAM head, trapping the material inside. OSIRIS-REx will then weigh and stow the captured sample for return to Earth in 2023. ||
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ID: 20256 Animation
OSIRIS-REx Bennu Mapping Animations
Read moreOSIRIS-REx will spend over a year orbiting and mapping asteroid Bennu in preparation of the mission's main science goal – collecting a sample of Bennu for return to Earth in 2023. || Edited movie of mapping animations || OSIRIS-REx arrival at Bennu. || Bennu reveal. || Detailed survey of Bennu. || OSIRIS-REx mapping Bennu. || OSIRIS-REx flying over Bennu || OSIRIS-REx mapping Bennu ||
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ID: 20257 Animation
OSIRIS-REx Mission Design: Earth Return Animations
Read moreOn September 24, 2023, OSIRIS-REx will return its sample of asteroid Bennu to Earth. The sample return capsule will detach from the spacecraft, perform an entry, descent and landing sequence, and touch down at the UTTR facility in Utah. The Bennu samples will be taken to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas for curation, and will be studied by scientists around the world for decades to come. ||
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ID: 14406 Produced Video
![Ride along with OSIRIS-REx during the thrilling finale of its journey to Bennu and back.Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “A Sense of Urgency” and “Rise to the Challenge” by Daniel Marantz and Michael James Burns, Raydia Music library [PRS]; “Fragments of Time” by Timothy Robert Shortell, Scores of Hypersonic Music [BMI]Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.](/vis/a010000/a014400/a014406/OSIRIS-REx_Journeys_End_Preview_V3_print.jpg)
To Bennu and Back: Journey’s End
Read moreRide along with OSIRIS-REx during the thrilling finale of its journey to Bennu and back.Complete transcript available.Universal Production Music: “A Sense of Urgency” and “Rise to the Challenge” by Daniel Marantz and Michael James Burns, Raydia Music library [PRS]; “Fragments of Time” by Timothy Robert Shortell, Scores of Hypersonic Music [BMI]Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. ||
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ID: 11825 Animation
OSIRIS-REx Mission Design: Narrated Feature
Read moreThe OSIRIS-REx mission design includes complex trajectories, polar orbits, and reconnaissance flyovers that will allow the spacecraft to thoroughly explore asteroid Bennu.Music provided by Killer Tracks: Electric Cosmos, Inducing Waves, Newfound Lands, Crystal Sound Bath, ImperatumWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. ||
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ID: 12713 Produced Video
First NASA Mission To Collect Asteroid Sample Will Slingshot by Earth - 9.22.17 Live Shots
Read moreB-roll and canned interviews to be added on Thursday, Sept 21OSIRIS is pronounced: O-Si-Ris || NASA's first-ever mission to collect an asteroid sample will get a boost from Earth THIS Friday. On Friday, Sept. 22, Earth's gravity will slingshot OSIRIS-REx toward its target, a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu. Scientists believe asteroids like Bennu may have seeded Earth with the organic compounds that made life possible. OSIRIS-REx — the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer — is a robotic mission that will map this asteroid and then collect a sample that it will send home to Earth.OSIRIS-REx launched last year, but because Bennu's orbit is tilted six degrees in comparison to Earth's, the spacecraft needs a boost before it can get to the asteroid. Earth's game-day assist on Sept. 22nd will position it to reach Bennu's path in 2018. One of the best ways to change the trajectory of a spacecraft (without carrying extra fuel) is by using the gravity of a planet or large moon to catapult it, and that’s exactly how our home planet will help OSIRIS-REx match the asteroid's path and speed. Join NASA scientists on Friday, Sept. 22, from 6:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. EST – just hours before Earth slingshots OSIRIS-REx toward asteroid Bennu – to find out why this maneuver is critical to the mission’s success, and how OSIRIS-REx could uncover the materials and processes that enabled life on Earth.When it arrives at Bennu next year, OSIRIS-REx will map the asteroid, study its orbit and collect samples that will be sent to Earth in 2023. There are more than half a million known asteroids in our solar system, but Bennu is an ideal candidate for closer study because of its size, composition and proximity to Earth. Bennu is an artifact of the ancient solar system, a silent witness to the titanic events in our solar system’s 4.6 billion-year history.****To book a window contact: Michelle Handleman/ michelle.z.handleman@nasa.gov / 301-286-0918.****HD Satellite Digital Coordinates: HD Satellite Coordinates for SES2-K21/AB: SES 2, Ku-band Xp 21, Channel AB | 87.0 ° W Longitude | DL 12111.0 MHz | Horizontal Polarity | QPSK/DVB-S | FEC 3/4 | SR 13.235 Mbps | DR 18.2954 MHz | HD 720p | Format MPEG2 | Chroma Level 4:2:0 | Audio EmbeddedSuggested Questions:1.What is OSIRIS-REx and where is it going? 2.Earth's gravity will slingshot OSIRIS-REx to the asteroid. How does that work? 3.Asteroids are time capsules from the beginning of our solar system. What’s so exciting about this particular asteroid?4.What's it going to look like when NASA high-fives an asteroid to collect a sample?5.Where can we learn more?Extra Questions for Longer Interviews:1.How do you determine when and where to get the sample from Bennu?2.What kind of science do we hope to gain from studying Bennu, especially with samples here on Earth?3.What will OSIRIS-REx do that's never been done before? 4.What will scientists do with the asteroid sample once it gets to Earth?5.How have previous missions helped NASA perfect the art of the gravity assist?6.Bennu is just one of hundreds of thousands of asteroids out there. How can studying asteroids keep us safe?Live Shot Details:Location: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Greenbelt, MarylandScientists:Dr. Jim Garvin / NASA Goddard Chief Scientist Dr. Christina Richey / OSIRIS-REx Deputy Program ScientistDr. Michelle Thaller/ NASA Scientist ||
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