May 28, 2018

This last week the mission marked a major milestone. On May 22, the Science Operations Planning Group (SOPG) held the kickoff of the mission’s Approach Phase. The SOPG Approach Kickoff marked the official start of detailed planning for the spacecraft’s instrument operations to study Bennu, which will begin on Aug. 17. The first instrument operation being planned is the spacecraft’s first observation of Bennu, which will be taken by the PolyCam imager from a distance of approximately 2 million km.