Another Near-Earth Asteroid, Apophis, Will Be Visited by NASA's OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft
OSIRIS-APEX is an extended mission that will research the near-Earth asteroid Apophis, which will pass close to Earth in 2029.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission will swing past Earth on September 24, 2023, to deliver a sample from the asteroid Bennu. It will not, however, clock out after that.
The University of Arizona-led mission to study the near-Earth asteroid Apophis, which will be dubbed OSIRIS-APEX, has been extended for another 18 months by NASA. In 2029, Apophis will make a near visit to Earth.
The University of Arizona will lead the mission, which will begin moving toward Apophis 30 days after the OSIRIS-REx probe delivers the sample it gathered from Bennu in October 2020. At that time, the original mission crew will divide, with the sample analysis team examining the Bennu sample and the spacecraft and instrument team switching to OSIRIS-APEX (OSIRIS-Apophis Explorer).
Dante Lauretta, Regents Professor of Planetary Sciences, will continue to lead OSIRIS-REx for the next two years of the mission's sample return phase. Dani DellaGiustina, an associate professor of planetary sciences and the OSIRIS-REx deputy principle investigator, will thereafter take over as the lead investigator of OSIRIS-APEX. The mission cost ceiling is increased by $200 million as a result of the extension.
A comprehensive search for prospective asteroid targets was done by the mission crew. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was planned for a rendezvous mission, which means it was meant to "get up close and personal with the object" rather than performing a single flyby and swiftly taking photographs and gathering data. DellaGiustina said the following. "That's something our spacecraft excels at."
"One of the most well-known asteroids is Apophis," DellaGiustina remarked. "When it was initially found in 2004, there were fears that it will collide with the Earth during its near approach in 2029. After further studies, that danger was eliminated, but it will be the closest an asteroid of this size has been in the 50 years or so that asteroids have been carefully followed, or in the next 100 years of asteroids we have detected so far. During the 2029 encounter, it comes within a tenth of the distance between the Earth and the moon. It will be so near that people in Europe and Africa will be able to view it with their bare eyes. We were ecstatic to learn that the mission had been extended."
OSIRIS-REx was launched in 2016 with the goal of collecting a sample from Bennu that would aid scientists in their understanding of the solar system's creation and Earth's status as a habitable planet. OSIRIS-REx is the first NASA mission to acquire a sample from a near-Earth asteroid and return it to Earth.
OSIRIS-APEX will not gather a sample, but when it arrives to Apophis, it will spend 18 months studying the asteroid and collecting data. It will also do a manoeuvre identical to the one it performed while collecting samples on Bennu, approaching the surface and firing its thrusters. The asteroid's subsurface will be exposed, allowing mission scientists to learn more about the asteroid's material characteristics.
The researchers also hope to see how the asteroid will be altered physically by Earth's gravitational pull during its near approach in 2029.
They also aim to understand more about the asteroid's makeup. Apophis is around the same size as Bennu, measuring approximately 1000 feet at its longest point, but it has a different spectral type. Apophis is an S-type asteroid associated with conventional chondrite meteorites, while Bennu is a B-type asteroid associated with carbonaceous chondrite meteorites.
"The OSIRIS-REx mission has already accomplished so many firsts, and I am delighted that it will continue to educate us about the beginnings of our solar system," stated Robert C. Robbins, President of the University of Arizona. "The OSIRIS-APEX mission extension maintains the University of Arizona in the lead as one of the world's leading universities for studying tiny things with spacecraft, and it highlights our remarkable potential in space sciences once again," says UA astronomer Dr. David Smith.
DellaGiustina is particularly ecstatic that the mission would give a fantastic chance for early-career scientists to further their careers. During the early stages of the mission, OSIRIS-REx veterans will serve as mentors to these early career scientists. By the time OSIRIS-APEX gets to Apophis, the following generation will have assumed command of the spacecraft.
"OSIRIS-APEX is an expression of one of our mission's primary objectives: to allow the next generation of space exploration leadership." Lauretta commented, "I couldn't be more proud of Dani and the APEX team." "Dani began working with us as an undergraduate student in 2005. Her decision to lead the journey to the asteroid Apophis exemplifies the University of Arizona's great educational possibilities."
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