OSIRIS-REx Mission Design: Site Selection Campaign
Animations by
Walt Feimer
Released on November 30, 2018
Once OSIRIS-REx has completed its Preliminary Survey of Bennu and entered orbit, it will be ready to study the asteroid in greater detail. Its observations will help mission planners to identify candidate sample sites on Bennu – areas where it is safe to collect a sample, and which are of interest to scientists. During this phase, OSIRIS-REx will: scan Bennu from pole-to-pole, globally map its surface, take high-resolution images, and study its spectra to determine the asteroid’s mineral composition.