NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft has obtained new images of Bennu, a 1,614-foot (492 m) wide asteroid that orbits the Sun relatively close to the Earth.
This image of asteroid Bennu was captured on January 17, 2019, from a distance of about one mile. Image credit: NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona / Lockheed Martin.
After a two-year journey, OSIRIS-REx arrived at Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36) on December 3, 2018.
At 2:43 p.m. EST (7:43 GMT) on December 31, the spacecraft successfully entered a one-mile (1.75 km) orbit around the asteroid.
This comfortable distance is necessary to keep the probe locked to the asteroid.
One of the key objectives of this orbital phase is to get a better handle on Bennu’s mass and gravity, features that will influence the planning of the rest of the mission.
“During this phase, OSIRIS-REx’s NavCam 1 camera is regularly imaging Bennu’s surface, even though its scientific camera suite (OCAMS) is not collecting data,” the OSIRIS-REx team members said.
“We use these ‘OpNav’ images to monitor the spacecraft’s close orbit around the asteroid.”
This image of Bennu was captured on January 17, 2019. Image credit: NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona / Lockheed Martin.
These two new images of Bennu, which each have an exposure time of about 1.4 milliseconds, were captured on January 17, 2019.
The images show the southern hemisphere of the asteroid.
The large boulder — fully visible in the middle of the left frame and in partial shadow in lower portion of the second frame — is about 165 feet (50 m) across.
