IAC Scientists participate in NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to study an old asteroid

3D design of OSIRIS-REx spacecraft at the asteroid Bennu. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
3D design of OSIRIS-REx spacecraft at the asteroid Bennu. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
Advertised on

On September 8th NASA will launch, from Cape Canaveral, the OSIRIS-REx probe to study the asteroid Bennu. Javier Licandro, and Julia de León, researchers at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) are participating in the prior reunion of the Science Group on 6th and 7th September and will be present at the launch of the probe, planned for the following day. During 2018 and 2019, OSISIS-REx will characterize and take samples from the surface of Bennu, which will be analyzed when it returns to Earth, around 2023.

Bennu is a NEO (a Near Earth Object) whose composition dates back to the origin of the Solar System, from the time at which the oldest known meteorites, the carbonaceous condrites, were formed. “Bennu” explains Javier Licandro, “has hardly changed since it was formed 4,500 million years ago, so that by analyzing its composition and surface we can obtain knowledge about how the Solar System was formed, and how life began on our planet. OSIRIS-REx will also give us useful data on Bennu to help calculate its orbit more precisely and estimate the probability that it will collide with the Earth.

The IAC team will be involved in different activities during the two phases of the mission. During its flight and visit to Bennu, they will form a part of the IPWG (Image Processing Working Group) and will produce colour maps from the images taken by the OCAMS (OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite) which will permit the study of the geographic distribution of the absorption features produced by hydrated minerals, fundamental for evaluating the abundance of water. They will also contribute to the choice of the site from which the samples will be taken, and will make in-flight calibrations.

“Afterwards, we will keep working on the physical characterization of primitive asteroids, which will be needed to support, improve, and set in its context the science from OSIRIS-REx. To do so, we will study the surface spectral and thermal properties of the collisional families of primitive asteroids in the main belt, the populations outside the belt, the active asteroids and the comets from this belt (MBCs or Main Belt Comets)”, says Julia de León. In addition, Julia will lead the spectroscopic cataloguing of primitive asteroids (PRIMASS, Primitive Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey) in the visible and near infrared. Finally, they will use data from several asteroid catalogues such as VISTA VHS, J_PLUS, and that of the GAIA mission.

Web of the OSIRIS-REx mission: http://www.asteroidmission.org/

Contacts:

Javier Licandro: jlicandr [at] iac.es (jlicandr[at]iac[dot]es)

Julia de León: jmlc [at] iac.es (jmlc[at]iac[dot]es)

News type
Press release

It may interest you

  • Falcon 9 de SpaceX con el satélite ALISIO-1
    Press release
    El IAC envía al Espacio el primer satélite canario
    ALISIO-1, el primer satélite propio del Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), ha iniciado su viaje al espacio este viernes, 1 de diciembre, a bordo de un cohete de SpaceX. El lanzamiento que ha tenido lugar a las 18:19 horas desde la Base Vandenberg de la Fuerza Aérea Estadounidense situada en California (EEUU), se ha desarrollado sin ningún contratiempo El presidente del Gobierno de Canarias, Fernando Clavijo, que ha presidido el lanzamiento del primer satélite canario, ha valorado el exitoso trabajo que viene realizando el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias y ha dicho que “sitúa a
    Advertised on
  • Planetary nebula M57
    Press release
    The mystery of the fullerenes in space explained
    A pioneering study from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) which combines laboratory chemistry with astrophysics, has shown for the first time that grains of dust formed by carbon and hydrogen in a highly disordered state, known as HAC, can take part in the formation of fullerenes, carbon molecules which are of key importance for the development of life in the universe, and with potential applications in nanotechnology. The results are published as a Letter to the Editor in the prestigious journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Fullerenes are carbon molecules which are very big
    Advertised on
  • Artist’s concept of WASP-39 b
    Press release
    Astronomers observe differences in sunrises and sunsets on a distant world
    Using observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international scientific team, in which the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) participates, has confirmed variations in morning and evening atmosphere of the exoplanet WASP-39 b, about 700 light-years away from Earth. The research has revealed differences in temperature and atmospheric pressure, as well as indications of different cloudiness and winds that could reach thousands of miles per hour. The results are published in Nature. WASP-39 b, a giant planet with a diameter 1.3 times greater than Jupiter, but
    Advertised on