LPL Spotlight Stories

Artist's impression showing the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending onto Bennu's surface to collect a sample on Oct. 20. NASA/Goddard/CI Lab

OSIRIS-REx Successfully Touches Asteroid Bennu in Sample Grab

Ten years after NASA selected LPL to lead the OSIRIS-REx mission, the spacecraft successfully completed its most treacherous and rewarding task: sample collection.

 NASA's UArizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission is the agency's first attempt to bring back a sample from an asteroid.NASA

What Touching an Asteroid Can Teach Us

NASA will make history on Oct. 20 by attempting its first-ever sample collection maneuver at an asteroid. LPL professor Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission, discusses the significance of the mission for science and society.
The sampler head of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft works not unlike a reverse vacuum cleaner, designed to collect loose material from the surface of asteroid Bennu on Oct. 20. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)

Why Scooping a Sample from an Asteroid is Harder than it Looks

Here's what will happen on Oct. 20, when NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will descend to asteroid Bennu and pick up a sample of pristine material left over from the formation of our solar system.

 NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission created these images using false-color Red-Green-Blue composites of asteroid Bennu. A 2D map and spacecraft imagery were overlaid on a shape model of the asteroid to create these false-color composites. In these composites, spectrally average and bluer-than-average terrain looks blue, and surfaces that are redder than average appear red. Bright green areas correspond to the instances of a mineral pyroxene, which likely came from a different asteroid, Vesta.

An Asteroid of a Different Color … and Other Secrets of Bennu Unlocked

The LPL-led OSIRIS-REx mission is gearing up for its first attempt to collect a sample from asteroid Bennu this month. But before even touching the surface, scientists are learning more than ever about the material that makes up the asteroid.
Captured on August 11, 2020 during the second rehearsal of the OSIRIS-REx mission’s sample collection event, this image shows the SamCam imager's field of view as the NASA spacecraft approaches asteroid Bennu's surface.NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

25 Days of 'O-REx'

There are T minus 25 days until the LPL-led NASA OSIRIS-REx mission attempts to collect its first-ever asteroid sample. Here are facts for each day of the countdown.

 On Oct. 20, the University of Arizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission will make its first sample collection attempt.

OSIRIS-REx Begins its Countdown to TAG

On Oct. 20, the LPL-led OSIRIS-REx mission will make its first sample collection attempt. Because of the communication delay, the spacecraft must pilot itself to the surface while avoiding hazardous boulders before backing away safely with the sample.
During spring 2019, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured these images, which show fragments of asteroid Vesta present on asteroid Bennu’s surface. The bright boulders (circled in the images) are pyroxene-rich material from Vesta. Some bright material appear to be individual rocks (left) while others appear to be clasts within larger boulders (right).NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

NASA's OSIRIS-REx to Asteroid Bennu: 'You've Got a Little Vesta on You...'

Bits of the asteroid Vesta found on Bennu highlight the variety of asteroids in the solar system.

 The four largest moons of Jupiter in order of distance from Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.NASA

Jupiter's Moons Could be Warming Each Other

The gravitational push and pull by Jupiter's moons could account for more warming than the gas giant Jupiter alone.
This view of asteroid Bennu ejecting particles from its surface on January 19, 2019, was created by combining two images taken by the NavCam 1 imager onboard NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft: a short exposure image that shows the asteroid clearly and a long exposure image that shows the particles clearly. Other image processing techniques were also applied, such as cropping and adjusting the brightness and contrast of each layer.NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

Where Rocks Come Alive: OSIRIS-REx Observes an Asteroid in Action

While studying asteroid Bennu up close, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft witnessed periodic outbursts of material being kicked up from the surface. A dedicated observation campaign revealed details of the activity and the processes likely causing it.

Drs. Ali Bramson and Michael Sori will be Assistant Professors at Purdue University!

Dr. Michael Sori and Dr. Ali Bramson are Postdocs in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at UArizona. Both accepted positions as Assistant Professors in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University.