Planets and Moons  ID: 20258

OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft and Instrument Animations

OSIRIS-REx is a solar-powered spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems. The spacecraft bus measures 3.2 meters high by 2.4 meters wide (about 10x8 feet). With its solar arrays deployed, the spacecraft spans 6.2 meters in length (over 20 feet). A high-gain antenna on the sun-pointed side of OSIRIS-REx enables communication with Earth. On the opposite side is the TAGSAM, a 3.4-meter-long, folding arm that will reach out and grab a sample of the mission's target, near-Earth asteroid Bennu.

Before collecting the sample, OSIRIS-REx will spend over a year orbiting and studying Bennu with a suite of remote sensing instruments, located on the spacecraft's main instrument deck. These include the OCAMS camera suite for spectral imaging, mapping, and navigation; the OLA laser altimeter for measuring elevation; the OTES thermal emission spectrometer for infrared mapping; the OVIRS visible and infrared spectrometer for detecting organic compounds; and the student-built REXIS X-ray spectrometer for detecting individual atomic elements. Mission planners will use this suite of instruments to determine the best location on Bennu for collecting the sample, which OSIRIS-REx will return to Earth in 2023.

 

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Animation Credits

Walt Feimer (HTSI): Lead Animator
Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (USRA): Animator
Dante Lauretta (The University of Arizona): Scientist
Edward Beshore (The University of Arizona): Scientist
Jason Dworkin (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Dan Gallagher (USRA): Lead Producer
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20258

Mission:
OSIRIS-REX

Keywords:
SVS >> OSIRIS-REx
NASA Science >> Planets and Moons