Mission Status
Oct 02, 2017
Following a successful Earth Gravity Assist on Sept. 22, the spacecraft engaged its OCAMS and TAGCAMS cameras and OTES and OVIRS spectrometers on Sept. 22, Sept. 25 and Sept. 28 to observe the Earth and Moon. The instruments operated nominally and the mission team was able to use the opportunity to exercise its science operations procedures and calibrate the spacecraft’s instruments. Images and spectra of Earth and images of the Earth and Moon were also released. A final day of observations is scheduled for Oct. 2.
The mission’s navigation team determined that the spacecraft’s post-EGA trajectory was on course as planned. As a result, the trajectory correction maneuver (TCM-6) scheduled for Oct. 4 was cancelled.
Sep 25, 2017
On Friday, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft completed its planned Earth Gravity Assist.
Sep 18, 2017
Last week, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft maintained nominal operations as it continued on a trajectory toward Earth for its scheduled Sept. 22 Earth Gravity Assist (EGA). On Sept. 14, the spacecraft’s communications downlink rate increased to 300 kbps from 200 kbps as the spacecraft’s distance to Earth continues to shrink. The spacecraft is currently communicating through its low gain antenna (LGA).
As of Sept. 18, the spacecraft is 2.6 million km from Earth and its one-way light time is around 9 seconds.
Sep 11, 2017
This week, OSIRIS-REx’s navigation team determined that the spacecraft’s 23 Aug. trajectory correction maneuver (TCM-3) accurately set the spacecraft on the correct trajectory for its Sept. 22 Earth Gravity Assist (EGA). This means that there will be no need to execute TCM-4 or TCM-5, which were originally scheduled to further target the spacecraft at the optimal EGA aim-point.
Preparations for EGA continue for the team on the ground. In particular, the instrument teams are getting ready for science observations of Earth and the Moon as the spacecraft swings by Earth and continues on a new orbital plane out toward Bennu.
As of Sept. 11, the spacecraft is 6.5 million km from Earth, having traveled 933.9 million km since launch on Sept. 8, 2016.