{"id":22810,"date":"2020-10-19T15:29:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T19:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=22810"},"modified":"2020-10-19T15:10:24","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T19:10:24","slug":"space-sciences-roundup-oct-19-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=22810","title":{"rendered":"Space sciences roundup – Oct.19.2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images from space-related science news items (find previous roundups here<\/a>):<\/p>\n

** Asteroids and Comets<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

** OSIRIS-REx set to touch down briefly on Bennu<\/strong> – The Long Arm of NASA: The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Gets Ready To Grab An Asteroid Sample – IEEE Spectrum<\/a><\/p>\n

Sixteen years after NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx mission<\/a> was first proposed and two years after the robotic spacecraft went into orbit around asteroid 101955 Bennu<\/a>, mission team members are now counting down to the moment when it will descend to the surface, grab a sample\u2014and then get out of there before anything can go wrong.<\/em><\/p>\n

The sampling is set for next Tuesday, Oct. 20. If it works, it will be a first for the United States. (A Japanese probe is currently returning to Earth with samples from asteroid 162173 Ryugu<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Though the mission plan has so far been executed almost flawlessly, an outsider might be forgiven for thinking there\u2019s something a bit\u2026well, counterintuitive about it. The spacecraft has no landing legs, because it will never actually land. Instead, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft vaguely resembles an insect with a long snout\u2014a honeybee, perhaps, hovering over a flower to pollinate it. The \u201csnout\u201d is actually an articulated arm with a 30.5 cm round collection chamber at the end. It\u2019s called TAGSAM \u2013 short for Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism. You\u2019ve doubtless heard the old expression, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t touch that with a 10-foot pole.\u201d The TAGSAM arm is an 11-foot pole.<\/em><\/p>\n

** Watch the event on NASA TV<\/strong>: Update: NASA to Broadcast OSIRIS-REx Activities | NASA<\/a><\/p>\n

** A discussion of the OSIRIS-REx mission<\/strong>: NASA EZScience<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to touch down on the asteroid Bennu on October 20, 2020, for its first sample collection attempt. To kick off the second season of <\/span>#EZScience<\/a><\/em>, NASA associate administrator for science Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen and National Air and Space Museum director Dr. Ellen Stofan discuss this exciting and innovative mission to return samples from an asteroid to Earth and the scientific opportunities it opens up.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n