Biology
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufm.p42a..03d&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #P42A-03
Biology
[5215] Planetary Sciences: Astrobiology / Origin Of Life, [5455] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Origin And Evolution, [4355] Natural Hazards / Miscellaneous
Scientific paper
OSIRIS-REx is an asteroid sample return mission to organic-rich asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ36. The mission seeks to address deep questions: where did we come from; what is our destiny? Earth sterilized itself during its formation, yet here we are today. Where did the organics come from? To do so, we will return at least 60g of pristine, uncontaminated, organic-rich regolith for study on Earth by advanced analytical equipment. Because it is relatively easy for us to get the RQ36, it is relatively easy for it to get to us, making I the most potentially hazardous asteroid know to humanity with a 1:1800 probability of impacting the Earth in 2180. We will study the Yarkovsky effect, thermal forces that cause small objects to deviate from keplerian orbits, with the goal of understanding how to mitigate against a civilization-ending or species-ending impact catastrophe. The mission launches in September, 2016, arrives at RQ36 in November of 2019, and spends about a year conducting detailed studies of RQ36 in order to select the best sampling site. Sampling is achieved by approaching the surface ay 10 cm/sec and agitating the regolith with nitrogen gas on contact. The agitated regolith is collected in a sample head, which is stowed in the Sample return capsule for return to Earth at the UTTR Test range in Utah in September 2023. Two years of funded studies are carried out by the U.S. and world community before end of mission in 2025, after which samples will still be available through the NASA-JSC Curation Facility. OSIRIS-REx will return samples never before available for study on Earth, probably using some instruments yet to be invented. In addition, OSIRIS-REx will provide "ground truth" for telescope observations of airless bodies by returning a pristine sample of the surface of RQ36. OSIRIS-REx will evaluate resources available to future human missions, both materials and technologies such as proximity operations. And we will learn how to mitigate against impact catastrophes. As such, OSIRIS-REx is truly "Exploring our Past, Securing our Future".
Drake Michael J.
Lauretta Dante S.
OMEGA Team
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