OSIRIS-REx: X Marks the Spot - 2019 AGU Press Conference
Released on December 12, 2019
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission announced its primary and backup sample collection sites on asteroid Bennu, at a press conference hosted during AGU’s Fall Meeting at 2 p.m. ET, Thursday, Dec. 12.
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