Jan 21, 2019

This past week, the spacecraft continued orbiting Bennu as part of the Orbital A navigation campaign, traveling around 5 cm/sec (relative to the asteroid). This phase was designed to provide the mission team with experience navigating in close proximity to a small body, and as such, there are no science requirements. The only Bennu observations being taken during Orbital A phase are optical navigation (OpNav) images using the NavCam1 camera. Orbital A continues through mid-February.

This week, the navigation team was able to officially cancel trim burn maneuvers through Feb. 9 due to the sustained performance of the spacecraft’s trajectory implemented during the Dec. 31 orbital insertion.