Subject line: exploration and study of the asteroids

Responsibility of the mission: NASA

Date of launch: September 9th, 2016

End of mission: 2023

 

Description

OSIRIS-Rex (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer) is a space mission developed by the NASA, aimed at exploring the asteroids in the framework of the New Frontiers Programme.

Launched on September 9th, 2016, from the Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaveral, OSIRIS-Rex is the first mission aimed at collecting a sample of rock from an asteroid and its studies will be useful to define the future missions, in order to predict and avoid an impact with an asteroid.

 

Scientific goals

OSIRIS will spend a period of time between six months and one year around the asteroid Bennu. Afterwards, it will take a few samples: each of them weighs about 60 grams, and will be directly analysed when the probe will return to Earth, in 2023. Among the goals of the mission, Osiris will also map the global, chemical and mineralogical properties of a primordial carbonaceous asteroid, to characterise its geological history.

The study and exploration of the asteroids will allow to obtain information on the formation of the solar system.

‣ News

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The catalogue of PRISMA acquisitions is now freely available on GEOSS portal ‣

The catalogue data is updated daily MORE...

SATURDAY 01 JULY 2023

EUROPE’S EUCLID MISSION LIFTS OFF ‣

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WEDNESDAY 14 JUNE 2023

Teodoro Valente is the new president of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) ‣

Following the appointment of its new president, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) has also designated a new Board of Directors MORE...

FRIDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2022

THE PARTICIPATION OF THE ITALIAN SPACE AGENCY IN THE 73RD INTERNATIONAL ASTRONAUTICAL CONGRESS IN PARIS ‣

The space showcase par excellence takes place in Paris from September 18th to September 22nd, 2022, and precedes the next European edition, which will take place in Italy with IAC Milan 2024, organized by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and hosted by the Italian Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIDAA), the ASI and Leonardo

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WEDNESDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2022

SAMANTHA CRISTOFORETTI WILL BE THE COMMANDER OF THE ISS ‣

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