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Before-and-after data from the few seconds it took the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to collect a sample from asteroid Bennu revealed a surprise: The particles of Bennu's exterior are so loosely packed, they act more like a fluid than a solid.
Lauretta is principal investigator of the UArizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission, NASA's premier mission to visit a potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid and bring back a sample.
The extended UArizona-led mission, dubbed OSIRIS-APEX, will study the near-Earth asteroid Apophis, which is expected to have a close encounter with Earth in 2029.
The award recognizes the team behind the mission's successful collection of a pristine asteroid sample for laying "the groundwork for forging the next generation of scientists, astronomers, geologists and more."
The University of Arizona has joined a collaboration with Space Trust – a nongovernmental organization based in the United Kingdom – and the University of Nairobi in Kenya to develop a series of Earth-orbiting spacecraft built by university students.
Using data from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, a UArizona-led team of scientists concluded that asteroids with highly porous rocks, such as Bennu, should lack fine-grain material on their surfaces.
NASA and UArizona scientists were able to significantly reduce uncertainties about asteroid Bennu's orbit and determine the likelihood of the asteroid impacting Earth between now and the year 2300.
New research by a UArizona undergraduate finds that asteroid 16 Psyche, the target of an upcoming NASA mission, may not be as metallic or dense as predicted.
The gift will allow for the purchase of a nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometer, which the OSIRIS-REx analysis team will use to help find answers to questions about the origins of the solar system.
