SCIENTISTS FINETUNE BENNU EARTH SERIES
The probe aimed its long-range imager toward the asteroid and captured a series of pictures Aug. Nearly two years after its launch, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has commenced its final approach to asteroid Bennu.
The New Horizons spacecraft, on an extended mission after flying by Pluto in July 2015, has its sights set on a distant, frozen world nicknamed Ultima Thule nearly 4 billion miles (more than 6 billion kilometers) from Earth. Launched in September 2016, OSIRIS-REx is approaching asteroid Bennu, a dark, carbon-rich world measuring approximately 1,640 feet (500 meters) in diameter. The imagery will improve in the coming months, before each mission’s target finally becomes fully resolved late this year.
Two NASA spacecraft - the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission and the New Horizons probe at the edge of the solar system - have captured their first looks at their targets as they approach a pair of primordial relics for the first time. Bennu is visible as a moving object against the stars in the constellation Serpens.Ĭredits: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona This cropped set of five images was obtained by the Pol圜am camera over the course of an hour for calibration purposes and in order to assist the mission’s navigation team with optical navigation efforts.
17, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft obtained the first images of its target asteroid Bennu from a distance of 1.4 million miles (2.2 million km), or almost six times the distance between the Earth and Moon.
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