The Spacecraft Will Maneuver Down To Bennu’s Rocky And Dusty Surface To Collect A Sample

Today, Tuesday, OSIRIS-REx will attempt a historic feat for NASA -- to collect the first samples from an asteroid’s surface. Seriously, folks, take some time out of your day to keep up with this... an extraordinary bit of history in the making.

During Touch-And-Go (TAG), the spacecraft will maneuver down to the selected Nightingale site on Bennu’s rocky and dusty surface to collect a sample for return to Earth in 2023. OSIRIS-REx launched Sept. 8, 2016, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and many folks across IV&V and NASA worked hard to make the project happen.

Roger Harris, who served as Project Manager for OSIRIS-REx work at IV&V, explained exactly what to expect during the TAG on Tuesday.

“The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will make its first TAG attempt at gathering at least 2 ounces regolith from the asteroid Bennu. Since Bennu is so far away, the operators on the ground will issue instructions to the software, and then it will autonomously approach Bennu and extend its robotic arm, called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM),” he said. “The solar panels will pull back safely away so they can’t touch Bennu’s surface, and the Natural Feature Tracking system will enable the spacecraft to pull back before the spacecraft is in danger of colliding with a hazardous area of the “Nightingale” landing site, which while our best option for gather surface material, is surrounded by massive mission-ending boulders.”

Throughout the week, the agency will have ample coverage surrounding the TAG and OSIRIS-REx as a whole. This includes live coverage of the spacecraft’s descent to the asteroid’s surface for its TAG maneuver, which will be managed by Lockheed Martin Space near Denver and begin at 5 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Beginning with an orbit departure maneuver around 1:50 p.m., the full sequence of the complicated engineering feat will also be covered on @OSIRISREx, and media and the public can ask questions using the hashtag #ToBennuandBack.

“If all goes well, TAGSAM will stow the gathered material and begin the trip home. IV&V performed analysis on the critical software necessary to execute this activity as well as the software that controlled the essential steps leading up to this,” Harris said. “It’s exciting to know that we contributed to this mission and positively affected the development of the spacecraft and instrument software with the results of our hard work!”

FMI: www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-broadcast-osiris-rex-asteroid-sample-collection-activities