This graphic depicts the Asteroid Redirect Vehicle conducting a flyby of its target asteroid. During these flybys, ARM would come within 0.6 miles (1 kilometer), generating imagery with resolution of up to 0.4 of an inch (1 centimeter) per pixel. (Credit: NASA)
PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has issued a request for proposal (RFP) seeking design, development and build of the robotic spacecraft that will capture a multi-ton asteroid boulder from deep space during the first segment of the agency’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). The RFP is open to the four industry partners that previously completed conceptual designs of the spacecraft.
“No sooner had we accomplished the securing of the pumps when I was approached by another one of our range users who explained they were losing pressure on the chillers at a neighboring launch complex. Without those chillers the spacecraft for the next launch would be lost. [Emphasis added] Needless to say at this point I had to reestablish our priorities and get a team working on a way to get our IRT into Space Launch Complex 41 to allow access for technicians to enter in order to make the necessary repairs.”
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx was sitting on top of an ULA Atlas V on Space Launch Complex 41. Read the full story below.
This is an artist’s concept of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft preparing to take a sample from asteroid Bennu. (Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Meaney)
LONGUEUIL, Quebec (CSA PR) — The Government of Canada recognizes the valuable contributions of the nation’s researchers as they continue to explore new frontiers in science. Today, Canadian-built technology launched on board a NASA spacecraft that is en route to a mysterious asteroid named Bennu. The OSIRIS-REx launch occurred at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:05 p.m. EDT and was attended by the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science. She was joined on site by Sylvain Laporte, President of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and Dr. Erick Dupuis, the CSA‘s Director of Space Exploration Development.
Video Caption: On Sept. 6, NASA previewed the science of the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security – Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx mission, during a pre-launch news conference at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. OSIRIS-REx – the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid is targeted to launch Sept. 8 at 7:05 p.m. ET to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, to survey the surface, retrieve at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of surface material, and return it to Earth for study. Analysis of the sample will reveal the earliest stages of the solar system’s evolution and the history of Bennu over the past 4.5 billion years.
Video Caption: NASA’s latest New Frontiers mission, OSIRIS-REx, will venture to a near-Earth asteroid to discover clues about the unique resources asteroids hold, processes that affect asteroids’ orbital paths and their potential for impacting Earth, and the origins of life in the solar system. In addition, OSIRIS-REx will collect a sample from the surface of the asteroid and return it to Earth for generations of scientists to study and analyze, making this the first American asteroid sample return mission and the largest sample returned from an extraterrestrial body since Apollo.
OSIRIS-REx’s launch window opens September 8, 2016.
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Katrina Jackson
Music credits:
“Defenders of the Earth” and “Finding Gaia” by Daniel Jay Nielson [ASCAP]; Atmosphere Music Ltd PRS; Volta Music; Killer Tracks Production Music
Video Caption: Talking via a filmed message, Queen’s Brian May late last night, Sunday, September 4th, announced ‘Asteroid 17473 Freddiemercury’ designated in Freddie’s honour at Freddie For A Day 70th birthday party held at Montreux Casino in aid of Mercury Phoenix Trust. Over 1,250 fans had gathered to celebrate.
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This is an artist’s concept of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft preparing to take a sample from asteroid Bennu. (Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Meaney)
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA is gearing up to launch the United States’ first mission to sample an asteroid, with activities at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida beginning Tuesday, Sept. 6, and culminating with the spacecraft launch Thursday, Sept. 8. Various activities are open to media and will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft is scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket between 7:05 and 9:05 p.m. EDT Sept. 8 from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, neighboring Kennedy in Florida.
The high gain antenna and solar arrays were installed on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft prior to it moving to environmental testing (Credit: Lockheed Martin)
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA is preparing to launch its first mission to return a sample of an asteroid to Earth. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.
Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (Credit: NASA/AMA Studios)
PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — Following a key program review, NASA approved the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) to proceed to the next phase of design and development for the mission’s robotic segment. ARM is a two-part mission that will integrate robotic and crewed spacecraft operations in the proving ground of deep space to demonstrate key capabilities needed for NASA’s journey to Mars.
Video Caption: The OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) will provide a three-dimenional map of asteroid Bennu’s shape, which will allow scientists to understand the context of the asteroid’s geography and the sample location. OLA is provided by the Canadian Space Agency in exchange for Canadian ownership of a portion of the returned asteroid sample.
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space flight Center/Katrina Jackson
SkyFire’s new infrared technology will help NASA enhance its knowledge of the lunar surface. (Credit: Lockheed Martin)
The Small Satellite 2016 Conference is now over. Below are links to Parabolic Arc’s coverage of the conference and the CubeSat Workshop that preceded it last weekend. There are also links to announcements made during the conference and in recent weeks.
Deep Space Industries’ Grant Bonin provided more details this week about the company’s Prospector-1 asteroid mission at the Small Satellite Conference in Utah. Below is a summary based on the tweets of Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) and David Hurst (@OrbitalDave).
Enjoy!
Grant Bonin Deep Space Industries
Prospector-1 will be the first commercial spacecraft sent to an asteroid
Prospector-1 is a 50-kg spacecraft whose main objective is to look for extractable water
Water will be key to the cis-lunar economy
Company examining 6 “very attractive” asteroids to explore
There’s a lot we still don’t know about asteroids – two asteroids that appear similar can be very different
Prospector-1 will attempt to soft land on asteroid at the end of its surveying mission to study regolith
Landing will also validate policy regime for commercial asteroid resources
Prospector-1 has midwave and visible infrared imaging for imaging asteroid and neutron spectrometer to study subsurface hydrogen
Spacecraft will launch as a secondary payload, use its own chemical rocket stage to leave Earth orbit for the asteroid
DSI will use super heated water for spacecraft propulsion
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (DSI PR) — Deep Space Industries announced today its plans to fly the world’s first commercial interplanetary mining mission. Prospector-1™ will fly to and rendezvous with a near-Earth asteroid, and investigate the object to determine its value as a source of space resources. This mission is an important step in the company’s plans to harvest and supply in-space resources to support the growing space economy.
The asteroid Lutetia during a flyby by ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft (Credit: ESA)
RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (UVIONIX Aerospace PR) – UVIONIX AEROSPACE is joining partners, SETI Institute, NVIDIA and Autodesk, in supporting young researchers develop new approaches to investigating the potential threat of asteroids.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (SETI PR) — A six-week long research accelerator, championed by NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist and hosted at the SETI Institute, is engaging young researchers from around the world to take on one of the truly existential threats to our species.
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