Tag: OSIRIS-REx
-
NASA’s New Horizons and OSIRIS-REx spacecraft spot their deep-space targets
The picture on the left was created by adding 48 different exposures from the LORRI camera on NASA’s New Horizons probe. The picture on the right has been processed to subtract the light from background stars, leaving an icy object known as Ultima Thule shining dimly in the crosshairs. (NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI Photo)…
-
Asteroid Ryugu revealed by approaching Japanese spacecraft
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated June 21 with new images. These views of asteroid Ryugu were taken June 18 through June 20 by the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft’s telescopic optical navigation camera, showing the rotating object as the probe approached. Credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Koichi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University…
-
Asteroid missions on track to reach their destinations in 2018
Artist’s concept of the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft at asteroid Ryugu. Credit: JAXA/Akihiro Ikeshita Pioneering spacecraft from NASA and the Japanese space agency promise to reveal two unexplored asteroids later this year, officials said Wednesday, beginning surveys that will culminate in daring descents to capture samples for return to Earth, where eager scientists await a hands-on…
-
Asteroid-bound probe returns Earth-moon family portrait
The MapCam camera on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft took this picture of the Earth and the moon Oct. 2 at a distance of around 3.2 million miles (5.1 million kilometers) from Earth. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona Ten days after a swingby to receive a gravitational boost toward its asteroid target, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft turned one of…
-
NASA shows off a drive-by snapshot of Earth from OSIRIS-REx asteroid probe
This color composite image of Earth was taken by the MapCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on Sept. 22, just hours after the spacecraft completed its Earth gravity assist maneuver at a range of about 106,000 miles. (NASA GSFC / Univ. of Arizona Photo) During last week’s flyby, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured a stunning portrait…
-
OSIRIS-REx probe buzzes Earth on its way to an asteroid – and earthlings wave back
Artwork shows NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft passing by Earth. (NASA GSFC / Univ. of Arizona Illustration) NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft took pictures — and had its picture taken — as it zoomed past Earth today on its way to the asteroid Bennu. The close encounter served as much more than a photo op: OSIRIS-REx’s gravity-assist maneuver was…
-
OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission receives gravitational boost from planet Earth
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) after flyby. Artist’s concept of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft flying by Earth. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Arizona NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, en route to asteroid Bennu to retrieve samples and return them to scientists, slingshot past Earth on Friday, using gravity to change its trajectory for a…
-
Are asteroids leaving the spotlight? No way, say Asteroid Day activists
An artist’s concept shows asteroids zooming past Earth (NASA / Asteroid Day Illustration) NASA may be closing down its grand plan to study a piece of an asteroid up close, but the researchers who focus on near-Earth objects aren’t turning their backs on massive space boulders. They say it’s just a matter of time before…
-
Quick work saved the OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission from nearby explosion
Smoke pours off Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad shortly after a Sept. 1 explosion. Credit: U.S. Air Force Engineers scrambled to keep NASA’s billion-dollar asteroid-bound OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on track for its launch last week in the aftermath of an explosion a mile away at SpaceX’s launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Quick action by safety…
-
Video: Post-launch news conference
An hour after OSIRIS-REx separated from the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its trajectory to Asteroid Bennu, officials from NASA, the University of Arizona, ULA and Lockheed Martin held the post-launch news conference from Kennedy Space Center. See earlier OSIRIS-REx coverage. Our Atlas archive.