3 Weeks After Launch, OSIRIS-Rex Instruments Functioning As Expected

By Sara Hammond
Published: Monday, September 26, 2016 - 4:20pm
Updated: Monday, September 26, 2016 - 4:22pm
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(Photo courtesy of NASA/GSFC/University of Arizona)
OCAMS MapCam camera recorded a star field in Taurus on Sept. 19. 2016.

For space exploration missions, the best word you can hear is nominal, meaning it is performing as it should be. The operation of the University of Arizona’s OSIRIS-Rex mission to an asteroid is being described in superlatives.

Three weeks into its seven-year mission to obtain and return a sample from an asteroid, OSIRIS-Rex is performing on target.

The UA’s Dante Lauretta leads the mission and has this update.

“We have completely checked out our spacecraft and all of our science instruments, and everything is working perfectly," said Lauretta.

Three cameras, built at the UA, were turned on last week and sent back 150 images of stars. Other instruments also were activated and all sent data back to the mission’s science headquarters in Tucson.

The asteroid sample will return to Earth in 2023.

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