OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission Dante S. Lauretta Deputy Principal Investigator
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OSIRIS-REX MISSION OBJECTIVES MAP ONE TO ONE WITH NASA KEY QUESTIONS NASA Key Questions How did life begin and evolve on Earth and has it evolved elsewhere in the Solar System? How did the Sun s family of planets and minor bodies originate? How did the Solar System evolve to its current diverse state? What are the hazards and resources in the Solar System environment that will affect the extension of human presence in space? What are the characteristics of the Solar System that led to the origin of life? OSIRIS-REx Objectives 1. Return and analyze a sample of pristine carbonaceous asteroid regolith in an amount sufficient to study the nature, history, and distribution of its constituent minerals and organic material. 2. Map the global properties, chemistry, and mineralogy of a primitive carbonaceous asteroid to characterize its geologic and dynamic history and provide context for the returned samples. 3. Document the texture, morphology, geochemistry, and spectral properties of the regolith at the sampling site in situ at scales down to the sub-millimeter. 4. Measure the Yarkovsky effect on a potentially hazardous asteroid and constrain the asteroid properties that contribute to this effect. 5. Characterize the integrated global properties of a primitive carbonaceous asteroid to allow for direct comparison with ground-based telescopic data of the entire asteroid population. COEL June 7, 2011 3
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WHY IS OSIRIS-REX TIMELY, AND WHAT ARE ITS UNIQUE ASPECTS? Exploring the asteroid- comet con.nuum by returning a significant amount of prisane samples with known geologic context Catalyzing the emerging integra.on of remote sensing and sample analysis communiaes Developing operaaonal capabiliaes that are essen.al for humanity to explore near- Earth space
WHAT SINGLE ASPECT OF YOUR MISSION WILL MOST ENGAGE THE GENERAL PUBLIC? Arecibo Radar Data 575 m
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1999 RQ36 IS ONE THE MOST EXTENSIVELY CHARACTERIZED NEOS Discovered on Sept. 11, 1999 by the LINEAR survey Observed with the Arecibo Planetary Radar system in Sept. 1999 and Sept. and Oct. 2005 (also with Goldstone) Observed with the Kuiper 1.5-m telescope multiple times in Sept. and Oct. 2005 Observed with the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in Sept. 1999 and Sept. 2005 Observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope between May 3rd-8th, 2007
B-CLASS ASTEROIDS ARE SOME OF THE MOST VOLATILE-RICH SMALL BODIES B. E. Clark et al. 2010 (submitted)
RADAR OBSERVATIONS PROVIDE UNPARALLELED KNOWLEDGE OF 1999 RQ36
WE HAVE HIGH CONFIDENCE IN OUR ABILITY TO OBTAIN REGOLITH FROM THE SURFACE OF 1999 RQ36 Apparent magnitude Phase 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
OSIRIS-REX BENEFITS FROM AND COMPLEMENTS SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS Itokawa Regolith
SURFACE SLOPE DISTRIBUTIONS SUGGEST A REGOLITH- COVERED BODY WITH A RELAXED SURFACE
1999 RQ36 IS THE MOST POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS EARTH IMPACTOR da/dt (10-4 AU/Myr) All Cases Impactors Semi-major axis on 1/1/2081 (AU) Milani, Chesley et al. (2009) COEL June 7, 2011 14
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HOW ARE YOUR SCIENCE REQUIREMENTS FULFILLED BY YOUR INSTRUMENT CAPABILITIES? (1 OF 3) PolyCam acquires 1999 RQ36 from 2M km range and refines its ephemeris LINEAR OLA maps the shape and topography Arecibo MapCam performs filter photometry and maps the surface OVIRS maps the spectral properties from 0.4 4.3 µm Kuiper IRTF OTES maps the spectral properties from 4 50 µm Spitzer
OBSERVATIONS PERFORMED AT RQ36 ACHIEVE SCIENCE BEYOND ANYTHING OBTAINABLE FROM EARTH (2 OF 3) Radio Science reveals the mass, gravity field, internal structure, and surface acceleraaon distribuaon SamCam and PolyCam study the regolith at high- resoluaon and SamCam documents sample acquisiaon at 1 Hz
TAGSAM: ELEGANTLY SIMPLE SAMPLER DESIGN PROVEN RELIABLE IN TESTING (3 OF 3) Regolith fluidized by high- pressure annular N 2 flow Mylar check valve retains regolith Universal joint conforms to local slope COEL June 7, 2011
11.5 g of bulk sample for immediate analysis after Earth return Measure the bulk abundances and isotopic compositions of the asteroid Constrain the presolar, nebular, and parent-body history of 1999 RQ36 Perform first analysis of spaceweathered carbonaceous material Measure thermal properties important for the Yarkovsky Effect 3.5 g for margin 45 g archived for future generations 19
OSIRIS-REX SURFACE SAMPLES PROVIDE CRITICAL DATA FOR THE SPECTRAL INTERPRETATION OF CARBONACEOUS BODIES 5 cm 2 of surface sample for immediate analysis axer Earth return Provide a backup sample to the bulk collecaon Characterize the opacal properaes of the upper surface layer Constrain the mineralogy of the space- exposed surface Perform first analysis of space- weathering on carbonaceous material 1.5 cm 2 for margin 73.5 cm 2 archived for future generaaons Luna r 0.7 mm
HOW ARE YOUR SCIENCE REQUIREMENTS FULFILLED BY YOUR MISSION DESIGN? The Design Reference Mission (DRM)... serves as the backbone for focusing the design effort - - from NF- 3 Step 1 evaluaaon COEL June 7, 2011 21
HOW ARE YOUR SCIENCE REQUIREMENTS FULFILLED BY YOUR DATA ACQUIRED? Sample Analysis Data Downlinked 2023 and beyond COEL June 7, 2011 22
Within six months of sample return, the OSIRIS-REx science team produces a catalog containing sufficient information to allow the community at large to propose research with the samples. During the subsequent six-month period, the Science Team is allocated samples to conduct the measurements required to address the mission science objectives. 23
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OSIRIS-REX ADDRESSES THE IMPACT HAZARD
OSIRIS-REX CONTINUES NASA EXPLORATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM THROUGH SAMPLE RETURN NASA s Sample Return Legacy Apollo Genesis Stardust OSIRIS- REx