The OSIRIS-REx probe will study the asteroid Bennu

OSIRIS-REx will reach the asteroid in August 2018, and returnót to Earth is scheduled for 2023. Bennu was discovered in 1999. Its mass is estimated to be around 85 millionóin tons, and a diameter of about 500 metersów. An asteroid, according to scientistsóin, is over 4 billion years old, dating back to the timeówhen our Solar System was just being formed.

NASA researchers hope to download próand this will help us understand the process of planetotwórczy. Scientists also believe that Bennu hides organic compounds, whichóre may answer more fundamental questions.

NASA wants to take at least 60 gramsóin a próbut researchers are prepared for more than 2 kilograms. The plan is that OSIRIS-Rex, after reaching Bennu, will circle the object for two years and make a detailed map of it. Following these steps, the probe will approach Bennu in the most favourable place and use the booms to take a sample of the cometóbki. A special nozzle will release high-pressure nitrogen, which will be released by the spacecraftóThe spacecraft will spray the dust on the asteroid and the ground particles will be sucked aboard the spacecraft.

Bennu has an elliptical orbit and is calculated to cross the Earth’s orbit eight times between 2169 and 2199. A collision with such a large object would threaten life on Earth. However, the probability of an asteroid hitting our globe is no more than 0.07 percent.

The probe is also tasked with looking at the object for a so-called. The Yarkovsky effect. Polish explorer in 1888 suggested that the absorption and radiation of heat could change the trajectory of the object. In the case of Bennu, this is of great importance due to future close flybys near Earth. The trajectory of the asteroid deviated by about. 160 km, since it was discovered.