When
3:30 p.m., April 19, 2011
Where
Kuiper Space Sciences 308
Dr. Dante Lauretta, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, is the scheduled speaker.
"The OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission"
Abstact:
Asteroids are direct remnants of the original building blocks of the terrestrial planets. Carbonaceous asteroids are an important source of volatiles and organic matter to the Earth. The Space Studies Board of the US National Research Council has identified sample return from a carbonaceous asteroid as a high priority mission. OSIRIS-REx is a sample return mission currently in Phase A in the NASA New Frontiers program. OSIRIS-REx will return samples from an organic-rich asteroid of a type not available in our meteorite collections. This type of material might have seeded Earth with the organic molecules that led to life. In addition, OSIRIS-REx will provide ground truth for ground-based and space-based telescope spectra, investigate resources potentially available for humans to use in space, and help understand how to mitigate against asteroid impacts.
"The OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission"
Abstact:
Asteroids are direct remnants of the original building blocks of the terrestrial planets. Carbonaceous asteroids are an important source of volatiles and organic matter to the Earth. The Space Studies Board of the US National Research Council has identified sample return from a carbonaceous asteroid as a high priority mission. OSIRIS-REx is a sample return mission currently in Phase A in the NASA New Frontiers program. OSIRIS-REx will return samples from an organic-rich asteroid of a type not available in our meteorite collections. This type of material might have seeded Earth with the organic molecules that led to life. In addition, OSIRIS-REx will provide ground truth for ground-based and space-based telescope spectra, investigate resources potentially available for humans to use in space, and help understand how to mitigate against asteroid impacts.