Space

Live coverage of spacecraft arrival at asteroid December 3

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December 2, 2018

This “super-resolution” view of asteroid Bennu was created using 8 images obtained by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on October 29, 2018, from a distance of about 205 miles (330 km). Image via NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous with its targeted asteroid, Bennu, on Monday, December 3, 2018, at approximately 17:00 UTC (noon EST). Translate UTC to your time.

NASA will air a live event from 16:45 to 17:15 UTC (11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EST) to highlight the arrival of the agency’s first asteroid sample return mission. You can watch on NASA TV, Facebook Live, Ustream, YouTube and NASA Live. NASA TV also will air an arrival preview program starting at 16:15 UTC (11:15 a.m. EST).

This animation consists of 5 of the 1st images of asteroid Bennu via the OSIRIS-REx mission, acquired August 17, 2018, at 1.4 million miles (2.3 million km), or almost 6 times the distance between the Earth and moon. The asteroid is visible as a moving object against the stars in front of the constellation Serpens. The spacecraft is due to arrive at the asteroid on December 3, 2018. Image via NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona.

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OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) launched in September 2016 and has been slowly approaching Bennu. OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid, survey the surface, collect a sample and deliver it back to Earth. The spacecraft will spend almost a year surveying the asteroid with the goal of selecting a location that is safe and scientifically interesting to collect the sample.

That asteroid sample is expected to return to Earth via free fall from space, until it reaches an altitude of 20.8 miles (33.5 km), when a first parachute will deploy. At 1.9 miles (3 km), the main parachute will be released, bringing the capsule with its precious cargo from Bennu in for a soft landing in the Utah desert on September 24, 2023.

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Bottom line: The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous with its targeted asteroid, Bennu, on Monday, December 3, 2018, at approximately 17:00 UTC (noon EST).

Via NASA

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December 2, 2018

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Eleanor Imster

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About the Author:

Eleanor Imster has helped write and edit EarthSky since 1995. She was an integral part of the award-winning EarthSky radio series almost since it began until it ended in 2013. She and her husband live in Tennessee, where they enjoy guitar playing and singing. They have 2 grown sons.