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114-546: MoonRise was not selected for the third New Frontiers program mission 3, losing out to the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, and it lost again in the 2017 competition for New Frontiers program mission 4. MoonRise has the following objectives: MoonRise received Phase A funding out of the New Frontiers program. The study was one of three concepts to get US$ 3.3 million funding in 2010 to further develop

228-481: A 20 km by 200 km area in the Woomera Prohibited Area , South Australia . Four ground teams surrounded this area and located the re-entry capsule by optical observation and a radio beacon. Then a team on board a helicopter was dispatched. They located the capsule and recorded its position with GPS. The capsule was successfully retrieved at 07:08 UTC (16:38 local) of 14 June 2010. The two parts of

342-467: A spectral resolution of 7.5–22 nm . This data was used in concert with OTES spectra to guide sample-site selection. The spectral ranges and resolving powers are sufficient to provide surface maps of carbonates , silicates , sulfates , oxides , adsorbed water and a wide range of organic compounds . The OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) provides thermal emission spectral maps and local spectral information of candidate sample sites in

456-408: A Y-shaped configuration to minimize the chance of dust accumulation during contact and provide more ground clearance in case the spacecraft tipped over (up to 45°) during contact. The descent was very slow, minimizing thruster firings prior to contact to reduce the likelihood of asteroid surface contamination by unreacted hydrazine propellant. On 20 October 2020, contact with the surface of Bennu

570-491: A cargo container which had air suspension to keep the capsule below 1.5 G shock during transportation. The capsule and its heat shield parts were transported to Japan by a chartered plane and arrived at the curation facility at the JAXA/ISAS Sagamihara Campus on 18 June. A Tokyo Metropolitan Government adviser and former lieutenant general, Toshiyuki Shikata, claimed that part of the rationale for

684-462: A celestial object, closer than the Rosetta 's orbit of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko at 7 km (4.3 mi). At this altitude, it took the spacecraft 62 hours to orbit Bennu. At the end of its detailed survey, the spacecraft entered a closer orbit with a radius of 1 km (0.62 mi). Rehearsals were performed before sampling, during which the solar arrays were raised into

798-483: A distance of 63,000 miles (101,000 kilometers) from Earth, it ejected the sample return capsule, which re-entered the atmosphere at 27,650 miles per hour (44,500 km/h). Due to a mistake in wiring, the drogue parachute did not deploy as planned at 100,000 feet (30,400 meters). However, the main parachute was released when the spacecraft reached about 9,000 feet (2,700 meters), and it survived deployment despite higher than anticipated speeds. About 8:52 a.m. MDT

912-416: A distance of 700 m). Imaging was achieved by correlating the detected X-ray image with a 64×64 element random mask (1.536 mm pixels). REXIS stored data for each X-ray event to maximize data storage usage and minimize the risk. The pixels were addressed in 64×64 bins and the 0.3–7.5 keV range was covered by five broad bands and 11 narrow line bands. A 24-second resolution time tag

1026-415: A distance of approximately 5 km (3.1 mi). Results of that mapping were used by the mission team to select the site from which to take a sample of at least 60 g (2.1 oz) of material of the asteroid's surface. Then a close approach (without landing) was carried out to allow extension of a robotic arm to gather the sample. Following the successful collection of material (121.6 grams),

1140-519: A higher position, then descended again to 500 m and released one of the target markers into space to test the craft's ability to track it (this was confirmed). From analysis of the closeup images, the Woomera Desert site (Point B) was found to be too rocky to be suitable for landing. The Muses Sea site (Point A) was selected as the landing site, for both first and, if possible, second landings. On 12 November, Hayabusa closed in to 55 m from

1254-475: A key element in organic molecules necessary for life as well as representative of matter from before the formation of Earth. Organic molecules, such as amino acids , have previously been found in meteorite and comet samples, indicating that some ingredients necessary for life can be naturally synthesized in outer space. The cost of the OSIRIS-REx mission is approximately US$ 800 million, not including

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1368-412: A leak in the thruster system, the probe was put in a "safe hold mode". On 27 November, the probe experienced a power outage when trying to reorient the spacecraft, probably due to a fuel leakage. On 30 November, JAXA announced that control and communication with Hayabusa had been restored, but a problem remained with the craft's reaction control system , perhaps involving a frozen pipe. Mission control

1482-435: A relative speed of 3 m per second. On 1 June, Hayabusa project manager Junichiro Kawaguchi reported that they confirmed two out of four ion engines were working normally, which would have been sufficient for the return journey. On 30 January 2007, JAXA reported that 7 out of 11 batteries were working and the return capsule was sealed. On 25 April, JAXA reported that Hayabusa started the return journey. On 29 August, it

1596-503: A result, the target asteroid was changed to 1998 SF 36 . In 2002, launch was postponed from December 2002 to May 2003 to recheck O-rings of reaction control system since one of it was found using different material than specified. On 9 May 2003 04:29:25 UTC, MUSES-C was launched by an M-V rocket, and the probe was named " Hayabusa ". Ion thruster checkout started on 27 May 2003. Full power operation started on 25 June. Asteroids are named by their discoverer. ISAS asked LINEAR ,

1710-545: A result, when the MINERVA release command arrived, MINERVA was released while the probe was ascending and at a higher altitude than intended, so that it escaped Itokawa's gravitational pull and tumbled into space. Had it been successful, MINERVA would have been the first hopping space rover. The Soviet mission Phobos 2 also encountered a malfunction while attempting to deploy a hopping rover. Scientists' understanding of asteroids depends greatly on meteorite samples, but it

1824-434: A sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. Hayabusa , formerly known as MUSES-C for Mu Space Engineering Spacecraft C , was launched on 9 May 2003 and rendezvoused with Itokawa in mid-September 2005. After arriving at Itokawa, Hayabusa studied the asteroid's shape, spin, topography, color, composition, density, and history. In November 2005, it landed on

1938-454: A sample to be taken, but there is a high probability that some dust may have whirled up into the sampling horn when it touched the asteroid, so the sample canister attached to the sampling horn was sealed. On 25 November, a second touchdown attempt was performed. It was initially thought that this time, the sampling device was activated; however, later analysis decided that this was probably another failure and that no pellets were fired. Due to

2052-537: A sampler head with an articulated 3.35 m (11.0 ft) arm. An on-board nitrogen source supports up to three separate sampling attempts to acquire at least 60 g (2.1 oz) of sample in all. The surface contact pads also collect fine-grained material. Hayabusa Hayabusa ( Japanese : はやぶさ , " Peregrine falcon ") was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return

2166-552: A target marker, and release of the Minerva minilander. The descent went well initially, and navigation images with wide-angle cameras were obtained. However, at 01:50  UTC ( 10:50 am JST ) on 4 November, it was announced that due to a detection of an anomalous signal at the Go/NoGo decision, the descent, including release of Minerva and the target marker had been canceled. The project manager, Junichiro Kawaguchi, explained that

2280-452: A tiny mini- lander (weighing only 591 g (20.8 oz), and approximately 10 cm (3.9 in) tall by 12 cm (4.7 in) in diameter) named " MINERVA " (short for MI cro- N ano E xperimental R obot V ehicle for the A steroid). An error during deployment resulted in the craft's failure. This solar-powered vehicle was designed to take advantage of Itokawa's very low gravity by using an internal flywheel assembly to hop across

2394-414: Is a scanning and lidar instrument that will provide high resolution topographical information throughout the mission. The information received by OLA creates global topographic maps of Bennu, local maps of candidate sample sites, ranging in support of other instruments, and support navigation and gravity analyses. OLA scans the surface of Bennu at specific intervals to rapidly map the entire surface of

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2508-525: Is estimated that the capsule experienced peak deceleration of about 25 G and heating rates approximately 30 times those experienced by the Apollo spacecraft . It landed via parachute near Woomera , Australia. In relation to the mission profile, JAXA defined the following success criteria and corresponding scores for major milestones in the mission prior to the launch of the Hayabusa spacecraft. As it shows,

2622-455: Is planned to rendezvous with the asteroid. OSIRIS-APEX will orbit Apophis for around 18 months in a regime similar to that at Bennu. The spacecraft will perform a maneuver, similar to sample collection at Bennu, by using its thrusters to disturb Apophis's surface, in order to expose and spectrally study the subsurface and the material beneath it. OSIRIS-REx and OSIRIS-APEX are acronyms, and each letter or combination of letters relates to part of

2736-688: Is reasonably well known, scientists continue to refine it. It is critical to know the orbit of Bennu because recent calculations produced a cumulative probability of 1 in 1410 (or 0.071%) of impact with Earth from 2169 to 2199. One of the mission objectives is to refine understanding of non-gravitational effects (such as the Yarkovsky effect ) on this orbit, and the implications of those effects for Bennu's collision probability. Knowing Bennu's physical properties will be critical for future scientists to understand when developing an asteroid impact avoidance mission. In addition to its telecommunication equipment,

2850-414: Is used for ranging and mapping from 1 to 7.5 km (0.62 to 4.66 mi). The low-energy transmitter is used for ranging and imaging from 0.5 to 1 km (0.31 to 0.62 mi). The repetition rate of these transmitters sets the data acquisition rate of OLA. Laser pulses from both the low and high energy transmitters are directed onto a movable scanning mirror, which is co-aligned with the field of view of

2964-408: Is very difficult to match up meteorite samples with the exact asteroids from which they came. Hayabusa helped solve this problem by bringing back pristine samples from a specific, well-characterized asteroid. Hayabusa bridged the gap between ground observation data of asteroids and laboratory analysis of meteorite and cosmic dust collections. Also comparing the data from the onboard instruments of

3078-622: The Atlas ;V launch vehicle, which is about US$ 183.5 million. The OSIRIS-APEX extended mission costs an additional US$ 200 million. It is the third planetary science mission selected in the New Frontiers program , after Juno and New Horizons . The principal investigator is Dante Lauretta from the University of Arizona , having taken over in 2011 after the original PI Michael Julian Drake died four months after

3192-420: The Hayabusa spacecraft is a platform for testing new technology and the primary objective of the Hayabusa project is the world's first implementation of microwave discharge ion engines . Hence 'operation of ion engines for more than 1000 hours' is an achievement that gives a full score of 100 points, and the rest of the milestones are a series of world's first-time experiments built on it. Hayabusa carried

3306-467: The Hayabusa with the data from the NEAR Shoemaker mission will put the knowledge on a wider level. The Hayabusa mission has a very deep engineering importance for JAXA, too. It allowed JAXA to further test its technologies in the fields of ion engines , autonomous and optical navigation, deep space communication, and close movement on objects with low gravity among others. Second, since it

3420-523: The SETI Institute as the project scientist. Since the reaction control system no longer functioned, the 510 kilograms (1,120 lb) space probe re-entered the Earth's atmosphere similar to the approach of an asteroid along with the sample re-entry capsule, and, as mission scientists expected, the majority of the spacecraft disintegrated upon entry. The return capsule was predicted to land in

3534-572: The Uchinoura Space Center (still called Kagoshima Space Center at that time). Following launch, the spacecraft's name was changed from the original MUSES-C to Hayabusa , the Japanese word for falcon . The spacecraft's xenon ion engines (four separate units), operating near-continuously for two years, slowly moved Hayabusa toward a September 2005 rendezvous with Itokawa. As it arrived, the spacecraft did not go into orbit around

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3648-738: The University of Arizona 's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory provides principal science operations. Lockheed Martin Space Systems built the spacecraft and provides mission operations. The science team includes members from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy. After traveling for approximately two years, the spacecraft rendezvoused with asteroid 101955 Bennu in December ;2018, and began 505 days of surface mapping at

3762-415: The ion engines to the bi-propellant thrusters for orbital maneuvering. From 4 September, Hayabusa 's cameras were able to confirm Itokawa's elongated shape. From 11 September, individual hills were discerned on the asteroid. On 12 September, Hayabusa was 20 km (12 mi) from Itokawa and JAXA scientists announced that Hayabusa had officially "arrived". On 15 September 2005, a 'color' image of

3876-480: The telemetry log data was faulty. On 6 December, Hayabusa was 550 km from Itokawa. JAXA held a press conference about the situation so far. On 8 December, a sudden orientation change was observed, and communication with Hayabusa was lost. It was thought likely that the turbulence was caused by evaporation of 8 or 10 cc of leaked fuel. This forced a wait of a month or two for Hayabusa to stabilize by conversion of precession to pure rotation, after which

3990-436: The thermal infrared channel covering 4–50 μm, again to map mineral and organic substances. The wavelength range, spectral resolution, and radiometric performance are sufficient to resolve and identify silicates, carbonates, sulfates, phosphates, oxides, and hydroxide minerals. OTES is also used to measure the total thermal emission from Bennu in support of the requirement to measure emitted radiation globally. Based on

4104-606: The Decadal Survey's recommendations. OSIRIS-REx OSIRIS-REx was a NASA asteroid-study and sample-return mission that visited and collected samples from 101955 Bennu , a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid . The material, returned in September 2023, is expected to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System , its initial stages of planet formation, and

4218-505: The MUSES-C project started in fiscal year 1996. Asteroid Nereus was the first choice of target, 1989 ML was the secondary choice. In early development phase, Nereus was considered out of reach and 1989 ML became the primary target. A launch failure of M-V in July 2000 forced MUSES-C's launch to be delayed from July 2002 to November/December, putting both Nereus and 1989 ML out of reach. As

4332-663: The PolyCam, the MapCam, and the SamCam. Together, they acquire information on asteroid Bennu by providing global mapping, sample site reconnaissance and characterization, high-resolution imaging, and records of the sample acquisition. The OSIRIS-REx Visible and IR Spectrometer (OVIRS) is a spectrometer which maps minerals and organic substances on the asteroid's surface. It provides full-disc asteroid spectral data at 20 m resolution. It maps blue to near-infrared, 400–4300 nm , with

4446-523: The SRC, the spacecraft closed the lid and then secured two internal latches. On inspecting images, it was observed that a few particles had escaped from the collector head during the stowage procedure, but it was confirmed that no particles would hinder the stowage process, since the team was confident that a plentiful amount of material remained inside of the head, more than the 60 g (2.1 oz) needed, that is, 121.6 g (4.29 oz). The sample of Bennu

4560-528: The South Australian outback while the spacecraft broke up and incinerated in a large fireball. An international team of scientists observed the 12.2 km/s entry of the capsule from 11.9 km (39,000 ft) on board NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory, using a wide array of imaging and spectrographic cameras to measure the physical conditions during atmospheric reentry in a mission led by NASA's Ames Research Center , with Peter Jenniskens of

4674-530: The TAGSAM arm moved it into the proper position for capture, and the collector head was later secured onto the capture ring in the SRC. When the head was seated into the Sample-Return Capsule's capture ring on 28 October 2020, the spacecraft performed a "backout check", which commanded the TAGSAM arm to back out of the capsule. This maneuver is designed to tug on the collector head and ensure that

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4788-411: The asteroid Itokawa. According to Japanese scientists, the composition of Hayabusa 's samples was more similar to meteorites than known rocks from Earth. Their size is mostly less than 10 micrometers. The material matches chemical maps of Itokawa from Hayabusa' s remote sensing instruments. The researchers found concentrations of olivine and pyroxene in the Hayabusa samples. Further study of

4902-468: The asteroid and collected samples in the form of tiny grains of asteroidal material, which were returned to Earth aboard the spacecraft on 13 June 2010. The spacecraft also carried a detachable minilander, MINERVA , which failed to reach the surface. NASA 's Galileo and NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft had visited asteroids before, but the Hayabusa mission was the first one to return an asteroid sample to Earth for analysis. In addition, Hayabusa

5016-449: The asteroid to achieve its primary objective of producing local and global topographic maps. The data collected by OLA will also be used to develop a control network relative to the center of mass of the asteroid and to enhance and refine gravitational studies of Bennu. OLA has a single common receiver and two complementary transmitter assemblies that enhance the resolution of the information brought back. OLA's high-energy laser transmitter

5130-562: The asteroid was released (which is, however, grey in coloring). On 4 October, JAXA announced that the spacecraft had successfully moved to its 'Home Position' 7 km from Itokawa. Closeup pictures were released. It was also announced that the spacecraft's second reaction wheel, governing the Y-axis, had failed, and that the craft was now being pointed by its rotation thrusters. On 3 November, Hayabusa took station 3.0 km from Itokawa. It then began its descent, planned to include delivery of

5244-437: The asteroid's surface. MINERVA was released but due to an error failed to reach the surface. On 19 November, Hayabusa landed on the asteroid. There was considerable confusion during and after the maneuver about precisely what had happened, because the high-gain antenna of the probe could not be used during final phase of touch-down, as well as the blackout during handover of ground station antenna from DSN to Usuda station. It

5358-416: The asteroid, but remained in a station-keeping heliocentric orbit close by. Hayabusa surveyed the asteroid surface from a distance of about 20 km (13.7 mi), the "gate position". After this the spacecraft moved closer to the surface (the "home position"), and then approached the asteroid for a series of soft landings and for the collection of samples at a safe site. Autonomous optical navigation

5472-452: The asteroid, the spacecraft was scheduled to fire its engines to begin its cruise back to Earth. This maneuver was delayed due to problems with attitude control (orientation) and the thrusters of the craft. Once it was on its return trajectory, the re-entry capsule was released from the main spacecraft three hours before reentry, and the capsule coasted on a ballistic trajectory, re-entering the Earth's atmosphere at 13:51, 13 June 2010 UTC. It

5586-439: The beacon signal. On 6 February, an ejection of xenon propellant was commanded for attitude control to improve communication. The spin axis change rate was about two degrees per day. On 25 February, telemetry data was obtained through the low-gain antenna. On 4 March, telemetry data was obtained through the medium-gain antenna. On 6 March, Hayabusa' s position was established at about 13,000 km ahead of Itokawa in its orbit with

5700-707: The capsule landed at 11 mph (18 km/h) at the Utah Test and Training Range , one minute earlier than predicted. The main spacecraft maneuvered to a trajectory away from Earth for its extended mission to Apophis in 2029 called OSIRIS-APEX. At 10:15 a.m. MDT (UTC-06:00), the capsule was taken from the landing site by helicopter. The sample will be analyzed at NASA's Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate (ARES) and at Japan's Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center . Asteroid sample material requests will be considered and distributed to organizations worldwide by ARES. On 11 October 2023,

5814-576: The discoverer of 1998 SF 36 , to offer the name after Hideo Itokawa , and on 6 August, Minor Planet Circular reported that the target asteroid 1998 SF 36 was named Itokawa . In October 2003, ISAS and two other national aerospace agencies in Japan were merged to form JAXA . On 31 March 2004, ion thruster operation was stopped to prepare for the Earth swing-by. Last maneuver operation before swing-by on 12 May. On 19 May, Hayabusa performed Earth swing-by. On 27 May, ion thruster operation

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5928-534: The end of the sampling head made of tiny stainless steel loops ( Velcro ) passively collected dust grains smaller than 1 mm . NASA selected the final four candidate sample sites in August 2019, named Nightingale, Kingfisher, Osprey, and Sandpiper. On 12 December 2019, they announced that Nightingale had been selected as the primary sample site and Osprey was selected as the backup site. Both were within craters, with Nightingale near Bennu's north pole while Osprey

6042-452: The first pharaohs." The science objectives of the mission are: Telescopic observations have helped define the orbit of 101955 Bennu , a near-Earth object (NEO) with a mean diameter in the range of 480 to 511 m (1,575 to 1,677 ft). It completes an orbit of the Sun every 436.604 days (1.2 years). This orbit takes it close to the Earth every six years. Although the orbit

6156-400: The first stage of Trajectory Correction Maneuver (TCM-0) which led to a rough Earth rim trajectory was completed. It was planned to be 60 days until reentry. By 4 May, the probe completed its TCM-1 maneuver to align precisely to the Earth rim trajectory. On 22 May, TCM-2 started, continued for about 92.5 hours, and finished on 26 May. It was followed by TCM-3 from 3 through 5 June to change

6270-441: The form of clay . While researchers suspect that Bennu was too small to host water, the hydroxyl groups may have come from water present in its parent body before Bennu split off. OSIRIS-REx entered orbit around Bennu on 31 December 2018 at about 1.75 km (1.09 mi) to start its extensive remote mapping and sensing campaign for the selection of a sample site. This is the closest distance that any spacecraft has orbited

6384-411: The heat shield, which were jettisoned during the descent, were also found. After confirming that the explosive devices used for parachute deployment were safe, the capsule was packed inside a double layer of plastic bags filled with pure nitrogen gas to reduce the risk of contamination. The soil at the landing site was also sampled for reference in case of contamination. Then the capsule was put inside

6498-484: The ion engine D automatically stopped working due to an anomaly from degradation. On 19 November 2009, JAXA announced that they managed to combine the ion generator of ion engine B and the neutralizer of ion engine A. It was suboptimal but expected to be sufficient to generate the necessary delta-v . Out of 2,200 m/s delta-v necessary to return to the Earth, about 2,000 m/s had been performed already, and about 200 m/s were still necessary. On 5 March 2010, Hayabusa

6612-420: The latches – which keep the collector head in place – are well secured. Following the test, the mission team received telemetry confirming that the head was properly secured in the Sample-Return Capsule. Thereafter, on 28 October 2020, two mechanical parts on the TAGSAM arm were disconnected – these are the tube that carried the nitrogen gas to the TAGSAM head during sample collection and the TAGSAM arm itself. Over

6726-616: The mission for the final selection, which was a US$ 650 million mission to launch in the late 2010s. The three semi-finalists were MoonRise , the OSIRIS-REx sample return mission, and the Venus In Situ Explorer mission. Although MoonRise was passed over in favor of OSIRIS-REx in the 2011 selection, a South Pole–Aitken basin sample return mission remains part of the 2013–2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey 's recommendation for potential New Frontiers missions, and NASA's Planetary Science Division has expressed support for

6840-538: The mission won approval from NASA. OSIRIS-REx was the first United States spacecraft to return samples from an asteroid. Previous asteroid returns include the Japanese probes Hayabusa , which visited 25143 Itokawa in 2010, and Hayabusa2 , which visited 162173 Ryugu in June 2018. Overall management, engineering, and navigation for the OSIRIS missions are provided by NASA 's Goddard Space Flight Center , while

6954-412: The mission's principal investigator , with no anomalies before or during launch. OSIRIS-REx entered the cruise phase shortly after separation from the launch vehicle, following successful solar panel deployment, propulsion system initiation, and establishment of a communication link with Earth. Its hyperbolic escape speed from Earth was about 5.41 km/s (3.36 mi/s). On 28 December 2016,

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7068-400: The new name suggests, its next target will be the near-Earth asteroid (and potentially hazardous object ) 99942 Apophis . Apophis will make an extremely close pass to the Earth on 13 April 2029, although there is no chance for an impact during this or any subsequent flybys in the near future. Observations of Apophis will commence on 8 April 2029, and a few days later, on 21 April, OSIRIS-APEX

7182-430: The next several hours, the mission team commanded the spacecraft to cut the tube that stirred up the sample through the TAGSAM head during sample collection, and separate the collector head from the TAGSAM arm. Once the team confirmed these activities were done, it commanded the spacecraft on 28 October 2020, to close and seal the Sample-Return Capsule, the final step of the sample stowage process of Bennu's samples. To seal

7296-466: The next two years analyzing the surface to find a suitable site from which to extract a sample. On 20 October 2020, OSIRIS-REx touched down on Bennu and successfully collected a sample. OSIRIS-REx left Bennu on 10 May 2021 and returned its sample to Earth on 24 September 2023, subsequently starting its extended mission to study 99942 Apophis , where it will arrive in April 2029. Bennu

7410-484: The operation required as the spacecraft approached Bennu, searching for natural satellites and other potential hazards. On 12 February 2017, while 673 × 10 ^  km (418 × 10 ^  mi) from Jupiter , the PolyCam instrument aboard OSIRIS-REx successfully imaged the giant planet and three of its moons, Callisto , Io , and Ganymede . OSIRIS-REx flew by Earth on 22 September 2017. On 3 December 2018, NASA confirmed that OSIRIS-REx had matched

7524-406: The optical navigation system was not tracking the asteroid very well, probably caused by the complex shape of Itokawa. A delay of a few days was required to evaluate the situation and reschedule. On 7 November, Hayabusa was 7.5 km from Itokawa. On 9 November, Hayabusa performed a descent to 70 m to test the landing navigation and the laser altimeter. After that, Hayabusa backed off to

7638-457: The particles found in one of two compartments inside the Hayabusa sample return capsule came from Itokawa. Analysis with a scanning electron microscope identified about 1,500 grains of rocky particles, according to the JAXA press release. After further studying the analysis results and comparison of mineral compositions, most of them were judged to be of extraterrestrial origin, and definitely from

7752-497: The performance of Mini-TES in the dusty surface environment of Mars, OTES was designed to be resilient to extreme dust contamination on the optical elements. The Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) provided an X-ray spectroscopy map of Bennu to map element abundances. REXIS was a collaborative development by four groups within Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University , with

7866-533: The potential to involve more than 100 students throughout the process. REXIS was based on flight heritage hardware, thereby minimizing elements of technical risk, schedule risk, and cost risk. REXIS is a coded aperture soft X-ray (0.3–7.5 keV) telescope that images X-ray fluorescence line emission produced by the absorption of solar X-rays and the solar wind by elements in the regolith of Bennu leading to local X-ray emissions. Images were formed with 21  arcminute resolution (4.3 m spatial resolution at

7980-412: The probe then executed a back-away maneuver to depart safely. The plan was then for OSIRIS-REx to perform a braking maneuver a few days later to halt the drift away from the asteroid in case it was necessary to return for another sampling attempt. It would then take images of the TAGSAM head to verify a sample had been acquired. If a sample was acquired, the spacecraft would rotate about the short axis of

8094-436: The probe, the data from the landing attempt were downloaded and analyzed, and on 23 November, JAXA announced that the probe had indeed landed on the asteroid's surface. Unfortunately, the sampling sequence was not triggered since a sensor detected an obstacle during descent; the probe tried to abort the landing, but since its orientation was not appropriate for ascent, it chose instead a safe descent mode. This mode did not permit

8208-601: The receiver telescope limiting the effects of background solar radiation. Each pulse provides target range, azimuth, elevation, received intensity and a time-tag. OLA was funded by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and was built by MDA at Brampton , Ontario , Canada. OLA was delivered for integration with the spacecraft on 17 November 2015. The lead instrument scientist of OLA is Michael Daly from York University . The sample-return system, called Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), consists of

8322-462: The recovered capsule was opened to reveal a "first look" at the asteroid sample contents. Further looks were reported on 13 December 2023 and revealed organic molecules and unknown materials that require study to determine their composition. Some damaged fasteners prevented immediate opening, but, after three months, on 13 January 2024, NASA reported fully opening the recovered container. In total, 121.6 g (4.29 oz) of asteroidal material

8436-402: The reentry and landing part of the mission was to demonstrate "that Japan's ballistic missile capability is credible." Before the capsule was extracted from the protecting plastic bag, it was inspected using X-ray CT to determine its condition. Then the sample canister was extracted from the reentry capsule. The surface of the canister was cleaned using pure nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide; it

8550-520: The regolith of asteroid Bennu while Apophis Explorer corresponds to the study of Apophis asteroid. When its heritage concept was proposed in the Discovery Program in 2004, it was called only OSIRIS, with REx for "Regolith Explorer" used descriptively rather than as part of the name. The asteroid for the second mission is named after the ancient Egyptian god Apophis , who was associated with chaos and destruction. The mission name itself

8664-460: The respective projects: Each of these words was chosen to represent an aspect of this mission. For example, the S, for security means the security of Earth from impact by hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs). Specifically it refers to better understanding the Yarkovsky effect , which can alter the trajectories of orbiting bodies. Regolith Explorer means that the mission will study the texture, morphology, geochemistry , and spectral properties of

8778-498: The rotation axis needed to be directed toward the Sun and Earth within a specific angular range. The probability of achieving this was estimated at 60% by December 2006, 70% by spring 2007. On 7 March 2006, JAXA announced that communication with Hayabusa had been recovered in the following stages: On 23 January, the beacon signal from the probe was detected. On 26 January, the probe responded to commands from ground control by changing

8892-434: The sample arm to determine sample mass by measuring momentum of inertia and determine if it was in excess of the required 60 g (2.1 oz). Both the braking and rotation maneuvers were canceled when images of the sample container clearly showed a large excess of material was collected, some of which was able to escape through the container's seal because some material had jammed the mechanism open. The collected material

9006-473: The sample through the flaps, NASA canceled the previously planned spinning maneuver meant to determine the mass of the sample as well as a navigational braking maneuver, and decided to stow the sample on 27 October 2020 rather than 2 November 2020 as originally planned, which was completed successfully. The collector head was observed hovering over the Sample Return Capsule (SRC) after

9120-508: The sample was returned to Earth in a 46 kg (101 lb) capsule similar to that which returned the samples of Comet 81P/Wild on the space probe Stardust . The return trip to Earth was shorter than the outbound trip. The capsule landed by parachute at the Utah Test and Training Range on September 24, 2023 and was transported to the Johnson Space Center for processing in a dedicated research facility. The launch

9234-464: The sampler had made contact. The spacecraft touched down within 92 cm (36 in) of the target location. A sample of the asteroid which was estimated to weigh at least 2 ounces (57 grams) was collected by OSIRIS-REx following the touch down. After imaging the TAGSAM head, NASA concluded that there were rocks wedged in the mylar flap meant to keep the sample inside, causing the sample to slowly escape into space. In order to prevent further loss of

9348-456: The samples by splitting particles and examining their crystal structure at SPring-8 . The 26 August 2011 issue of Science devoted six articles to findings based on dust collected by Hayabusa . Scientists' analysis of the dust from Itokawa suggested that it had probably originally been part of a larger asteroid. Dust collected from the asteroid surface was believed to have been exposed there for about eight million years. Dust from Itokawa

9462-419: The samples had to wait until 2011 because researchers were still developing special handling procedures to avoid contaminating the particles during the next phase of research. In 2013 JAXA announced that 1500 extraterrestrial grains had been recovered, comprising the minerals olivine , pyroxene , plagioclase and iron sulfide . The grains were about 10 micrometers in size. JAXA performed detailed analyses of

9576-428: The scientists investigated the feasibility of a sample return mission to Anteros and concluded that the technology was not yet developed. Between 1987 and 1994, joint ISAS / NASA group studied several missions: an asteroid rendezvous mission later became NEAR , and a comet sample return mission later became Stardust . In 1995, ISAS selected asteroid sample return as an engineering demonstration mission, MUSES-C, and

9690-436: The source of organic compounds that led to the formation of life on Earth. Following the completion of the primary OSIRIS-REx (Regolith Explorer) mission, the spacecraft is planned to conduct a flyby of asteroid 99942 Apophis , now as OSIRIS-APEX (Apophis Explorer). OSIRIS-REx was launched on 8 September 2016, flew past Earth on 22 September 2017, and rendezvoused with Bennu on 3 December 2018. It spent

9804-401: The spacecraft carries a suite of instruments to image and analyze the asteroid on many wavelengths, and retrieve a physical sample to return to Earth. The Planetary Society coordinated a campaign to invite interested persons to have their names or artwork on the mission's spirit of exploration saved on a microchip now carried in the spacecraft. The OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS) consists of

9918-556: The spacecraft successfully performed its first deep space maneuver to change its velocity by 431 m/s (1,550 km/h) using 354 kg (780 lb) of fuel. An additional, smaller firing of its thrusters on 18 January 2017 further refined its course for an Earth gravity assist on 22 September 2017. The cruise phase lasted until its encounter with Bennu in December 2018, after which it entered its science and sample collection phase. During its cruise phase, OSIRIS-REx

10032-467: The speed and orbit of Bennu at a distance of about 19 km (12 mi), effectively reaching the asteroid. OSIRIS-REx performed closer passes of the Bennu surface, initially at about 6.5 km (4.0 mi) through December to further refine the shape and orbit of Bennu. Preliminary spectroscopic surveys of the asteroid's surface by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft detected the presence of hydrated minerals in

10146-521: The surface before performing a back-away burn. A second rehearsal was successfully completed on 11 August 2020, bringing OSIRIS-REx down to 40 m (130 ft) from the surface. This was the final rehearsal before the sample collection scheduled for 20 October 2020, at 22:13 UTC. At 22:13  UTC , on 20 October 2020, OSIRIS-REx successfully touched down on Bennu at a distance of 200 million miles (320 million kilometers) from Earth. NASA confirmed via images taken during sampling that

10260-495: The surface of Bennu, a total of at least 133 events/asteroid pixel/energy band were expected under 2 keV; enough to obtain significant constraints on element abundances at scales larger than 10 m. On 11 November 2019, while observing the asteroid with REXIS, university students and researchers involved in the mission unexpectedly discovered an X-ray burst from a black hole named MAXI J0637-430 located 30,000 light-years away. The OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA)

10374-411: The surface of the asteroid, relaying images from its cameras to Hayabusa whenever the two spacecraft were in sight of one another. MINERVA was deployed on 12 November 2005. The lander release command was sent from Earth, but before the command could arrive, Hayabusa 's altimeter measured its distance from Itokawa to be 44 m (144 ft) and thus started an automatic altitude keeping sequence. As

10488-402: The trajectory from the Earth rim to Woomera, South Australia , TCM-4 was performed on 9 June for about 2.5 hours for a precision descent to Woomera Prohibited Area . The reentry capsule was released at 10:51 UTC on 13 June. The reentry capsule and the spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere on 13 June 2010 at 13:51 UTC (23:21 local). The heat-shielded capsule made a parachute landing in

10602-454: Was a reference to the god Osiris . Dante Lauretta, deputy PI of the mission, was called "a mythology buff" by the mission PI Michael Drake: "he was doodling on a pad and trying to capture the principal themes of what we are trying to do with this mission study life origins, identify resources, planetary security in the form of asteroid deflection and he realized he got the name of Osiris out of that, an ancient god of Egypt who may have been one of

10716-448: Was announced that Ion Engine C onboard Hayabusa, in addition to B and D, had been successfully re-ignited. On 29 October, JAXA reported that the first phase of trajectory maneuver operation had finished and the spacecraft was now put in a spin-stabilized state. On 4 February 2009, JAXA reported success in reignition of the ion engines and starting the second phase of the trajectory correction maneuver to return to Earth. On 4 November 2009,

10830-403: Was blown to correct the spin, and it was confirmed successful. On 5 December, attitude control was corrected enough to regain communication through the medium gain antenna. Telemetry was obtained and analyzed. As the result of telemetry analysis, it was found that there was a strong possibility that the sampler projectile had not penetrated when it landed on 25 November. Due to the power outage,

10944-500: Was chosen as the target of study because it is a " time capsule " from the birth of the Solar System . Bennu has a very dark surface and is classified as a B-type asteroid , a sub-type of the carbonaceous C-type asteroids . Such asteroids are considered primitive, having undergone little geological change from their time of formation. In particular, Bennu was selected because of the availability of pristine carbonaceous material,

11058-400: Was detected using accelerometers, and the impact force was dissipated by a spring in the TAGSAM arm. Upon surface contact by the TAGSAM instrument, a burst of nitrogen gas was released to blow regolith particles smaller than 2 cm (0.8 in) into the sampler head at the end of the robotic arm. A five-second timer limited the collection time to mitigate the chance of a collision, and

11172-422: Was employed extensively during this period because the long communication delay prohibits Earth-based real-time commanding. At the second Hayabusa touched down with its deployable collection horn, the spacecraft was programmed to fire tiny projectiles at the surface and then collect the resulting spray. Some tiny specks were collected by the spacecraft for analysis back on Earth. After a few months in proximity to

11286-421: Was found to be "identical to material that makes up meteorites." Itokawa is an S-type asteroid whose composition matches that of an LL chondrite . In Japan, rival film companies announced the production of three different feature length theatrical films based on the story of Hayabusa , one of which, Hayabusa: Harukanaru Kikan (2012), starred Ken Watanabe . The Lego construction toy company released

11400-445: Was initially reported that Hayabusa had stopped at approximately 10 meters from the surface, hovering for 30 minutes for unknown reasons. Ground control sent a command to abort and ascend, and by the time the communication was regained, the probe had moved 100 km away from the asteroid. The probe had entered into a safe mode , slowly spinning to stabilize attitude control . However, after regaining control and communication with

11514-403: Was interleaved with the event data to account for Bennu rotation. Images were reconstructed on the ground after downlink of the event list. Images were formed simultaneously in 16 energy bands centered on the dominant lines of abundant surface elements from O-K (0.5 keV) to Fe-Kß (7 keV) as well the representative continuum. During orbital phase 5B, a 21-day orbit 700 m from

11628-488: Was near the equator. NASA planned to perform the first sampling in late August 2020; NASA's originally planned Touch-and-Go (TAG) sample collection was scheduled for 25 August 2020, but was rescheduled for 20 October 2020, at 22:13 UTC. On 15 April 2020, the first sample collection rehearsal was successfully performed at the Nightingale sample site. The exercise took OSIRIS-REx as close as 65 m (213 ft) from

11742-415: Was on 8 September 2016 at 23:05 UTC on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 from Cape Canaveral , Space Launch Complex 41 . The 411 rocket configuration consists of a RD-180 powered first stage with a single AJ-60A solid fuel booster, and a Centaur upper stage . OSIRIS-REx separated from the launch vehicle 55 minutes after ignition. The launch was declared "exactly perfect" by

11856-464: Was on a trajectory that would have passed within the lunar orbit. Ion engine operation was suspended to measure the precise trajectory in preparation to perform Trajectory Correction Maneuver 1 to the Earth-rim trajectory. On 27 March, 06:17 UTC, Hayabusa was on a trajectory which would pass 20,000 km from Earth center, completing the orbit transfer operation from Itokawa to Earth. By 6 April,

11970-436: Was recovered from the sample container. The samples became available to the world’s scientists for research by request on 1 April, 2024. On 15 May 2024, an overview of preliminary analytical studies on the returned samples was reported. On 25 April 2022, NASA confirmed that the mission would be extended. After dropping off its sample to Earth on 24 September 2023, the mission became OSIRIS-APEX ('APophis EXplorer'). As

12084-465: Was safely stored and ready for its journey to Earth. With the collector head secure inside the SRC, pieces of the sample would no longer be lost. On 7 April 2021, OSIRIS-REx completed its final flyover of Bennu and began drifting away from the asteroid. On 10 May 2021, the spacecraft departed the vicinity of Bennu and began its two-year journey to Earth with the asteroid sample. On 24 September 2023, at 4:42 a.m. MDT ( UTC-06:00 ), at

12198-418: Was scheduled for immediate storage in the Sample-Return Capsule. On 28 October 2020, the sample collector head was secured in the return capsule. Following the separation of the head from the collector arm, the arm was retracted into its launch configuration, and the Sample-Return Capsule lid was closed and latched preparing to return to Earth. In addition to the bulk sampling mechanism, contact pads on

12312-468: Was started again. On 18 February 2005, Hayabusa passed aphelion at 1.7 AU. On 31 July, the X-axis reaction wheel failed. On 14 August, Hayabusa 's first image of Itokawa was released. The picture was taken by the star tracker and shows a point of light, believed to be the asteroid, moving across the starfield. Other images were taken from 22 to 24 August. On 28 August, Hayabusa was switched over from

12426-519: Was the first craft designed from the outset to make physical contact with the surface of an asteroid. Junichiro Kawaguchi of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science was appointed to be the leader of the mission. Despite its designer's intention for momentary contact, Hayabusa landed and sat on the asteroid surface for about 30 minutes (see below ). The Hayabusa spacecraft was launched on 9 May 2003 at 04:29:25 UTC on an M-V rocket from

12540-409: Was the first spacecraft designed to deliberately land on an asteroid and then take off again ( NEAR Shoemaker made a controlled descent to the surface of 433 Eros in 2000, but it was not designed as a lander and was eventually deactivated after it arrived). Technically, Hayabusa was not designed to "land"; it simply touches the surface with its sample capturing device and then moves away. However, it

12654-472: Was the first-ever preplanned soft contact with the surface of an asteroid (the NEAR Shoemaker landing on 433 Eros was not preplanned) it has enormous influence on further asteroid missions. The Hayabusa mission profile was modified several times, both before and after launch. The asteroid exploration mission by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) originated in 1986–1987 when

12768-440: Was then placed in the canister opening device. The internal pressure of the canister was determined by a slight deformation of the canister as the pressure of the environment nitrogen gas in the clean chamber was varied. The nitrogen gas pressure was then adjusted to match the internal canister pressure to prevent the escape of any gas from the sample upon the opening of the canister. On 16 November 2010, JAXA confirmed that most of

12882-515: Was used to search for a class of near-Earth objects known as Earth-Trojan asteroids as it passed through Sun–Earth L 4 Lagrange point . Between 9–20 February 2017, the OSIRIS-REx team used the spacecraft's MapCam camera to search for the objects, taking about 135 survey images each day for processing by scientists at the University of Arizona. The search was beneficial even though no new trojans were found, as it closely resembled

12996-399: Was working to resolve the problem before the craft's upcoming launch window for return to Earth. On 2 December, an attitude (orientation) correction was attempted, but the thruster did not generate enough force. On 3 December, the probe's Z-axis was found to be 20 to 30 degrees from the Sun direction and increasing. On 4 December, as an emergency measure, xenon propellant from the ion engines

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