About a week and a half ago, NASA launched their OSIRIS-REx probe from Cape Canaveral, Florida, effectively kicking off its seven-year mission across the black void of space to collect and return samples from an asteroid. Yeah, I know, aside from the epic acronym (Good job, NASA. You get bonus points for making that one work) this may seem like a pretty boring mission to some people. However, the entire future of the human race and life on this planet depends on it. Is it boring now?
According to NASA’s fact-sheet for the Asteroid Sample Return Mission, now that the OSIRIS-REx probe (Seriously, I can’t get over the name. It sounds like something out of a disaster movie), an acronym that stands for “Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security - Regolith Explorer,” has left earth, it shall enter into an orbit around the sun for one year. Then, using the gravitational field of the earth, it will basically sling-shot itself to the target in question, an asteroid that has been named Bennu. OSIRIS-REx will arrive at the asteroid sometime in the year 2018, utilizing small rocket thrusters to encounter Bennu and match its velocity. The probe will spend over a year at the asteroid, surveying, mapping, and taking samples from Bennu. Then, in March of 2021, OSIRIS-REx’s departure window will open up, allowing it to begun a return mission that will take approximately two and a half years of spaceflight. The probe will arrive safely (Or so NASA hopes) back on earth sometime in September of 2023.
Now, while that does seem like ridiculous amount of work for a comparatively small yield of asteroid samples, the data gathered from this mission has a massive amount of potential for the scientists that will spend years studying it. The samples from Bennu could provide information on the development of our solar system, the origins of life in our solar system, and allow scientists to better understand space hazards that could threaten Earth in the future. The samples from Bennu could also provide information on the type of resources that are available on asteroids and other extraterrestrial objects that are in close proximity to the planet earth, giving this mission a large amount of economic potential as well. According to NASA’s fact-sheet, “Asteroids are remnants of the building blocks that formed the planets and enabled life. Those like Bennu contain natural resources such as water, organics and metals. Future space exploration and economic development may rely on asteroids for these materials.” For future spaceflight missions that venture into deep space, asteroids like Bennu could act as resupply stations for spacecraft, allowing them to travel farther and for longer periods of time than ever before.
So, if humans ever need to flee the planet because an earth-shattering asteroid is making a bee-line for our home, asteroids with the proper resources could allow us to sustain a deep space escape. Thank you, NASA, for keeping our future secure and safe. Also, thank you for coming up with such dope acronyms.
