Aug 19, 2019

This week, OSIRIS-REx completed its first full week of Orbital C phase. Over the week, NavCam 1 collected pairs of long-exposure images from a nadir-pointed attitude. These observations seek to characterize and monitor asteroid Bennu’s particle ejection events, which is the main science objective for Orbital C phase.

During Orbital B phase, which completed in early August, the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) collected over 2.9 billion measurements. During the close orbit of Bennu, the instrument team met their goal of attaining 4x OLA coverage of Bennu’s entire surface.

The science plan for Reconnaissance A phase was approved this week, and the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will perform its first high reconnaissance pass over Site Sandpiper in October.