LPL Newsletter for August 2023
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
There is a lot of asteroid-related news this month at LPL!
The OSIRIS-REx team has been practicing all the steps needed to safely secure the return capsule and transport the samples of asteroid Bennu to Houston. A new banner at the entrance to the Kuiper Space Sciences building announces our excitement and anticipation for the Sept. 24 sample return.
Our fall lecture series on the topic of The Science and Hazards of Near-Earth Asteroids will feature professors Tom Zega, Veronica Bray, and Dani DellaGiustina. Dr. DellaGiustina will have early news on the OSIRIS-REx sample return campaign. Click the announcement links below to see links for the Zoom webinars for those who can't attend in person.
A significant portion of the Bennu sample will be analyzed at LPL in the Kuiper building laboratory facilities.To better reflect the main scientific thrust of the labs, we are rebranding this month from the Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility (KMICF) to the Kuiper-Arizona Laboratory for Astromaterials Analysis (K-ALFAA). A new NanoSIMS instrument is also in the midst of delivery and installation and should be online in time to help with the initial analyses of the Bennu samples.
Asteroid science at LPL of course goes well beyond OSIRIS-REx. The long-running Catalina Sky Survey has been responsible for almost half of the near-Earth asteroid discoveries over the past couple of decades. In July, CSS Director Eric Christensen stepped down to take on an exciting opportunity to lead the Vera Rubin Observatory observing team in Chile. Eric has overseen CSS since 2012 with a growth in the scale of survey from $1 to $3 million dollars in grant funding while discovering thousands of near-Earth objects. We thank Eric for his dedication to the survey and to LPL and wish him all the best in his new role. While we search for a new director, former CSS lead Ed Beshore will serve as interim director.
Because the history of LPL is so intertwined with asteroid science and discovery, a number of asteroids have been named after our faculty, staff, students, and alums. You can visit the web page tracking LPL-affiliated asteroid names here.
Follow us for more asteroid science as we countdown to the Sept. 24 OSIRIS-REx sample return.
Fall 2023 LPL Evening Lecture Series
Join us for three lectures highlighting The Science and Hazards of Near-Earth Asteroids:
OSIRIS-REx Team Practices Recovering Sample Capsule Bound for Earth
OSIRIS-REx team members from NASA, Lockheed Martin and the University of Arizona gathered for two days to rehearse procedures for the next critical milestone of the mission: recovering the real capsule after it lands and extracting the sample canister in a clean room that will be set up at the Utah Test and Training Range for the actual landing on Sept. 24.