OSIRIS REX Spacecraft Departs from the Bennu Asteroid
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft has begun its two-year-long journey back to Earth on 11 May, departing from an asteroid named Benue.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft has collected rock samples from the surface of the Benue asteroid. This will help in tracing the origin of the solar system.
About OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft
- The Osiris-Rex (Osiris-REx) spacecraft was launched by the US Space Agency NASA on September 8, 2016 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
- The Osiris-REx spacecraft has been built by the American company Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
- Its full name is – Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer Asteroid Sample Return Mission.
- The purpose of NASA’s launch of the Osiris-Rex space mission was to collect and study rock samples from the asteroid Bennu.
- The Osiris-Rex spacecraft, through its robotic arms, has collected samples of rocks and mineral elements from the surface of the asteroid Bennu.
The following five devices have been installed in this spacecraft –
- Osiris-Rex Laser Altimeter (OLA)
- Osiris-Rex Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES)
- Osiris-Rex Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS)
- Osiris-Rex Camera Suite (OCAMS)
- Regolith, X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS)
This is NASA’s first attempt to collect samples of an asteroid and return to Earth.
About asteroid bennu
- It is also known as ‘1999RQ36’. It was first seen by NASA’s space-based telescope while passing close to the Earth in
What are asteroids?
- These are a type of celestial body that the universe keeps moving mostly between Mars and Jupiter. These are larger in size than meteorite bodies and smaller than planets.
- Like planets, asteroids also revolve around the Sun. Ceres is the largest asteroid in our Sorption.
- According to astrophysicists, these asteroids were created at the same time as the creation of the solar system and in the past these asteroids have helped in the creation of the Earth due to the collision with the Earth for a long time.
Source – Indian Express
