OSIRIS-Rex – Atlas V 411 (AV-067) – Canaveral SLC-41 – 08.09.2016 23:05 UTC

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 2 мин. назад

Confirmed: TAGSAM arm deployment complete

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx @OSIRISREx 2 мин. назад

For the next 12 mins, I'll slowly slew, or rotate, so that the navigation cameras are looking at Bennu. I need a good view of Bennu's landmarks to understand where I am. This navigation technique is called Natural Feature Tracking (NFT) – read more here: https://bit.ly/2XGYYhI




57 сек. назад

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx @OSIRISREx 2 мин. назад

About to snap my first image for NFT navigation guidance
I'll compare it to an onboard image catalog and look for features to orient myself to make sure I'm going in the right direction

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 49 сек. назад

T-3:00 Update: current location in relation to Bennu

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 16 мин. назад

The OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) is powered ON. OTES will collect science data during the actual sampling event. Today it's scanning the surface so the team can confirm that the instrument completes the exercise as expected.

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 3 мин. назад

I'm now closer to Bennu than ever before   Just passed my previous closest altitude of 820 ft (250 m) from the surface.

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Jonathan McDowell @planet4589 3 мин. назад

OSIRIS-REx is making its frist Checkpoint Rehearsal. It departed 1 km orbit at 1852 UTC and will descend to only 75m above Bennu at 2300 UTC when it will abort the descent and back away.


2 мин. назад

Its current orbit takes it to a 125 metre periasteroidion (what's the right term, folks?)  at 2251 UTC when the Checkpoint burn begins the 9 min final descent to 75m. Before then, at 2237 UTC, its solar panels will fold back to the Y-Wing landing conf, very Starwarsy.

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NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 53 сек. назад

Slewing again to point the TAGSAM arm and the navigation cameras toward Bennu's surface.




33 сек. назад

Now it's time to start moving my solar panels into the Y-wing configuration, which will take 10 minutes to complete. The Y-wing configuration safely positions the panels up and away from the asteroid's surface.

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NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 8 мин. назад

The OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS) is powered ON. The camera suite's main goal is to document the sample collection activities. Imagine you're looking at Bennu's surface as you approach the asteroid and then back-away from it - that's what the images will show.

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8 мин. назад

I'll send the images down to Earth after the rehearsal is complete when I can transmit data at a higher rate. For now, gotta focus on one thing at a time!

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NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 3 мин. назад

Reposition to Y-wing configuration complete


1 мин. назад

Nearly ready for the Checkpoint burn, but first the NFT system will predict my position & speed at the Checkpoint altitude from my current path. The system will make necessary updates to my trajectory, and then I'll get the green light to navigate to the Checkpoint burn.

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NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 5 мин. назад

Initiating Checkpoint burn

Fire ACS thrusters for 3 seconds

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 7 мин. назад

Checkpoint burn complete

For the next 9 minutes, I'll descend more steeply toward Bennu's surface - the closest I've ever been to Bennu!

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx @OSIRISREx 4 мин. назад

Just arrived at my destination! Time to initiate the back-away burn

Next rehearsal, I'll keep descending and perform a third maneuver (the Matchpoint burn) before backing away. For the actual TAG event, I'll keep going until I touch Bennu's surface and collect a sample.

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 5 мин. назад

OCAMS, OTES, and the navigation cameras should now be powered OFF. In a bit, I'll put the TAGSAM arm back to its parked position

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 5 мин. назад

Preliminary data show that things went well

What a day! More details to come once all the data from the event are downlinked to Earth, thanks for following along.

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https://www.asteroidmission.org/?latest-news=one-step-closer-to-touching-asteroid-bennu

ONE STEP CLOSER TO TOUCHING ASTEROID BENNU

April 15, 2020 -
After the successful completion of its "Checkpoint" rehearsal, NASA's first asteroid-sampling spacecraft is one step closer to touching down on asteroid Bennu. Yesterday, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft performed the first practice run of its sample collection sequence, reaching an approximate altitude of 246 feet (75 meters) over site Nightingale before executing a back-away burn fr om the asteroid. Nightingale, OSIRIS-REx's primary sample collection site, is located within a crater in Bennu's northern hemisphere.


This artist's concept shows the trajectory and configuration of NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during Checkpoint rehearsal, which was the first time the mission practiced the initial steps of collecting a sample from asteroid Bennu. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

The four-hour Checkpoint rehearsal took the spacecraft through the first two of the sampling sequence's four maneuvers: the orbit departure burn and the Checkpoint burn. Checkpoint is so named because it is the location wh ere the spacecraft autonomously checks its position and velocity before adjusting its trajectory down toward the location of the event's third maneuver.

Four hours after departing its 0.6-mile (1-km) safe-home orbit, the spacecraft performed the Checkpoint maneuver at an approximate altitude of 410 feet (125 meters) above Bennu's surface. From there, the spacecraft continued to descend for another nine minutes on a trajectory toward – but not reaching – the location of the sampling event's third maneuver, the "Matchpoint" burn. Upon reaching an altitude of approximately 246 ft (75 m) – the closest the spacecraft has ever been to Bennu – OSIRIS-REx performed a back-away burn to complete the rehearsal.

During the rehearsal, the spacecraft successfully deployed its sampling arm, the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), from its folded, parked position out to the sample collection configuration. Additionally, some of the spacecraft's instruments collected science and navigation images and made spectrometry observations of the sample site, as will occur during the sample collection event.

This first rehearsal provided the mission team with practice navigating the spacecraft through both the orbit departure and Checkpoint maneuvers and with an opportunity to verify that the spacecraft's imaging, navigation and ranging systems operated as expected during the first part of the descent sequence. Checkpoint rehearsal also gave the team confirmation that OSIRIS-REx's Natural Feature Tracking (NFT) guidance system accurately estimated the spacecraft's position and speed relative to Bennu as it descended toward the surface.

The mission team has maximized remote work over the last month of preparations for the Checkpoint rehearsal, as part of the COVID-19 response. On the day of rehearsal, a limited number of personnel monitored the spacecraft's telemetry from Lockheed Martin Space's facility, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Arizona, taking appropriate safety precautions, while the rest of the team performed their roles remotely.

"This rehearsal let us verify flight system performance during the descent, particularly the autonomous update and execution of the Checkpoint burn," said Rich Burns, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Executing this monumental milestone during this time of national crisis is a testament to the professionalism and focus of our team. It speaks volumes about their 'can-do' attitude and hopefully will serve as a bit of good news in these challenging times."

The spacecraft will travel all the way to the asteroid's surface during its first sample collection attempt, scheduled for Aug. 25. During this event, OSIRIS-REx's sampling mechanism will touch Bennu's surface for approximately five seconds, fire a charge of pressurized nitrogen to disturb the surface and collect a sample before the spacecraft backs away. The spacecraft is scheduled to return the sample to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission's science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the spacecraft and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program, which is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

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 NASA's OSIRIS-REx‏ @OSIRISREx 45 мин. назад

Wanted to share my closest view yet of asteroid Bennu from yesterday's rehearsal!

This series of images was captured during the 10-minute span between the Checkpoint burn, ~394 ft (120 m) above the surface, and the back-away burn, which occurred ~213 ft (65 m) above the surface.

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https://www.asteroidmission.org/checkpoint-rehearsal-movie/

OSIRIS-REx Buzzes Sample Site Nightingale

This series of images, captured on Apr. 14 during the first rehearsal of the OSIRIS-REx mission's sample collection event, shows the SamCam instrument's field of view as the spacecraft approaches and moves away from asteroid Bennu's surface. The rehearsal brought the spacecraft through the first two maneuvers of the sampling event to a point approximately 213 feet (65 meters) above the surface, before backing the spacecraft away. These images were recorded over a ten-minute span between the execution of the rehearsal's "Checkpoint" burn, approximately 394 feet (120 meters) above the surface, and the completion of the back-away burn, which occurred approximately 213 feet (65 meters) above the surface. The spacecraft's sampling arm – called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) – is visible in the central part of the frame, and the relatively clear, dark patch of Bennu's sample site Nightingale is visible in the later images, at the top. The large, dark boulder that the spacecraft approaches during the sequence is 43 feet (13 meters) on its longest axis. The sequence was created using over 30 images taken by the spacecraft's SamCam camera. For context, the images are oriented with Bennu's west at the top.
During the sample collection event, which is scheduled for August, the SamCam imager will continuously document the entire event and touchdown maneuver.

Date Taken: April 14, 2020

Instrument Used: OCAMS (SamCam)

Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

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OSIRIS-REx Buzzes Sample Site Nightingale

NASA Video

15 апр. 2020 г.

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This series of images, captured on Apr. 14 during the first rehearsal of the OSIRIS-REx mission's sample collection event, shows the SamCam instrument's field of view as the spacecraft approaches and moves away from asteroid Bennu's surface. The rehearsal brought the spacecraft through the first two maneuvers of the sampling event to a point approximately 213 feet (65 meters) above the surface, before backing the spacecraft away. These images were recorded over a ten-minute span between the execution of the rehearsal's "Checkpoint" burn, approximately 394 feet (120 meters) above the surface, and the completion of the back-away burn, which occurred approximately 213 feet (65 meters) above the surface. The spacecraft's sampling arm – called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) – is visible in the central part of the frame, and the relatively clear, dark patch of Bennu's sample site Nightingale is visible in the later images, at the top. The large, dark boulder that the spacecraft approaches during the sequence is 43 feet (13 meters) on its longest axis. The sequence was created using over 30 images taken by the spacecraft's SamCam camera. For context, the images are oriented with Bennu's west at the top.

During the sample collection event, which is scheduled for August, the SamCam imager will continuously document the entire event and touchdown maneuver.

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https://www.youtube.com/embed/tV_CP03omSM (0:15)

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https://www.asteroidmission.org/checkpoint-navcam/

Checkpoint Rehearsal From the Lens of NavCam 2

Captured on Apr. 14 during the first rehearsal of the OSIRIS-REx mission's sample collection event, this series of images shows the navigation camera's (NavCam 2) field of view as the NASA spacecraft approaches and moves away from asteroid Bennu's surface. The rehearsal brought the spacecraft through the first two maneuvers of the sampling sequence to a point approximately 213 feet (65 meters) above the surface, after which the spacecraft performed a back-away burn.

These images were captured over a three-hour period – the imaging sequence begins approximately one hour after the orbit departure maneuver and ends approximately two minutes after the back-away burn. In the middle of the sequence, the spacecraft slews, or rotates, so that NavCam 2 looks away from Bennu, toward space. Shortly after, it performs a final slew to point the camera (and the sampling arm) toward the surface again. Near the end of the sequence, site Nightingale comes into view at the bottom of the frame. The large, tall boulder situated on the southeastern edge of the crater's rim is 43 feet (13 meters) on its longest axis. The sequence was created using over 100 images taken by the spacecraft's NavCam 2 camera.

NavCam 2 captures images for the spacecraft's Natural Feature Tracking (NFT) navigation system. The NFT system allows the spacecraft to autonomously guide itself to Bennu's surface by comparing real-time images with an onboard image catalog. As the spacecraft descends to the surface, the NFT system updates the spacecraft's predicted point of contact depending on OSIRIS-REx's position in relation to Bennu's landmarks. During the sample collection event, scheduled for August, the NavCam 2 camera will continuously image Bennu's surface so that the NFT system can update the spacecraft's position and velocity relative to Bennu as it descends towards the targeted touchdown point.

NavCam 2, a panchromatic (black-and-white) imager, is one of three cameras comprising TAGCAMS (the Touch-and-Go Camera System), which is part of OSIRIS-REx's guidance, navigation, and control system. TAGCAMS was designed, built and tested by Malin Space Science Systems; Lockheed Martin Space integrated TAGCAMS to the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and operates TAGCAMS.

Date Taken: April 14, 2020

Instrument Used: TAGCAMS (NFTCam)

Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

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https://www.asteroidmission.org/20200414mapcamcheckpoint/

Rocky Region West of Nightingale

This image shows the rocky region directly west of the crater where sample site Nightingale is located on asteroid Bennu. This image was taken by the MapCam camera on NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on April 14 from a distance of 0.3 miles (0.5 km). The field of view is 121 ft (37 m). For reference, the bright rock in the lower left is 25 ft (7.6 m) long, which is about the length of an ambulance. The image was obtained during the mission's Checkpoint Rehearsal. When it was taken, the spacecraft was over the northern hemisphere, pointing MapCam nearly straight down and to the east. During the mission's Orbital B phase, the PolyCam camera captured a high-resolution image of the same area.

Date Taken: April 14, 2020

Instrument Used: OCAMS (MapCam)

Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona