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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission Breaks Another Orbit Record
June 13, 2019 -On June 12, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft performed another significant navigation maneuver—breaking its own world record for the closest orbit of a planetary body by a spacecraft. The maneuver began the mission’s new phase,...
NASA Invites Public to Help Asteroid Mission Choose Sample Site
May 22, 2019 -Citizen scientists assemble! NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu needs extra pairs of eyes to help choose its sample collection site on the asteroid – and to look for anything else that might be scientifically...
NASA Mission Reveals Asteroid Has Big Surprises
March 19, 2019 -A NASA spacecraft that will return a sample of a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu to Earth in 2023 made the first-ever close-up observations of particle plumes erupting from an asteroid’s surface. Bennu also revealed itself to be more...
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Enters Close Orbit Around Bennu, Breaking Record
December 31, 2018 -At 2:43 p.m. EST on December 31, while many on Earth prepared to welcome the New Year, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, 70 million miles (110 million kilometers) away, carried out a single, eight-second burn of its thrusters – and...
NASA’s Newly Arrived OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Already Discovers Water on Asteroid
December 10, 2018 -Recently analyzed data from NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission has revealed water locked inside the clays that make up its scientific target, the asteroid...
NASA’S OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Arrives at Asteroid Bennu
December 3, 2018 -NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft completed its 1.2 billion-mile (2 billion-kilometer) journey to arrive at the asteroid Bennu Monday. The spacecraft...
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Executes Fourth Asteroid Approach Maneuver
November 13, 2018 -NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft executed its fourth Asteroid Approach Maneuver (AAM-4) yesterday. The spacecraft fired its Attitude Control System (ACS) thrusters to slow the spacecraft from approximately 0.31 mph (0.14 m/sec) to 0.10...
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Executes Third Asteroid Approach Maneuver
October 29, 2018 -NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft executed its third Asteroid Approach Maneuver (AAM-3) today. The trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) thrusters fired in a series of two braking maneuvers designed to slow the spacecraft’s speed relative...
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Executes Second Asteroid Approach Maneuver
October 15, 2018 -NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft executed its second Asteroid Approach Maneuver (AAM-2) today. The spacecraft’s main engine thrusters fired in a braking maneuver designed to slow the spacecraft’s speed relative to Bennu from 315 mph (141...
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Executes First Asteroid Approach Maneuver
October 1, 2018 -NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft executed its first Asteroid Approach Maneuver (AAM-1) today putting it on course for its scheduled arrival at the asteroid Bennu in December. The spacecraft’s main engine thrusters fired in a braking...