Altitude Comparison between Orbital A and B Phase Orbits

On June 12, 2019, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft entered its second orbital phase around asteroid Bennu, called Orbital B, and broke its own world record for the closest orbit of a planetary body. The spacecraft moved into a circular orbit 0.4 miles (680 meters) above Bennu’s surface. The previous record was set by OSIRIS-REx on Dec. 31, 2018, when the spacecraft flew 0.8 miles (1.33 km) above the asteroid’s surface during Orbital A phase.

Credit: University of Arizona/Heather Roper

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