NASA prepares for historic touchdown on asteroid Bennu with OSIRIS-REX mission where its robotic arm will collect rock samples during brief contact before launching back into space
- NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is getting ready to reach out its robotic arm and collect a sample from the asteroid Bennu’s surface Tuesday evening
- As of 5pm Tuesday EST the spacecraft was activating its sensors and instruments as it further descended into the orbit of the asteroid
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NASA‘s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is getting ready to reach out its robotic arm and collect a sample from the asteroid Bennu’s surface on Tuesday evening.
As of 5pm Tuesday EST the spacecraft was activating its sensors and instruments as it further descended into the orbit of the asteroid that contains material from the early solar system and could provide insight into questions about the origin of life on Earth.
NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft has been orbiting Bennu for nearly two years. In the meticulous 4.5-hour descent, the spacecraft will touch down briefly for a handful of seconds on space rock with its arm in a landing site called Nightingale.
The collected sample will be returned to Earth in 2023.
The spaceship is scheduled to land at about 22:00 BST (17:00 ET) in an area dubbed Nightingale – a 52ft location in the northern hemisphere of the small asteroid, which is less than a third of a mile in diameter.
The 11ft sampling arm of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft (pictured) will take samples of rock and soil from Bennu when the spacecraft lands on the space rock on Tuesday October 20
OSIRIS-REx will touch down for a handful of seconds on asteroid Bennu following a carefully orchestrated 4.5 hour descent. Van-sized, the craft will land at 22:00 BST (17:00 ET) on October 20 in an area dubbed Nightingale