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13 July 2021, 08:07 pm
(Photo : NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona) This illustration shows NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending towards asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of the asteroid’s surface.
China is planning a rocket launch targeting an asteroid with a slim chance of hitting Earth.
The planned rocket launch will make use of more than 20 of China s Long March 5 rockets to divert an asteroid named Bennu away from the planet. Specifically, scientists plan to use the rockets to push Bennu 6,000 off a fatal course.
Scientists believe that a collision between Earth and Bennu will be cataclysmic.
China Rocket Launch vs Bennu: What is Bennu
A massive asteroid is expected to whiz by Earth in a relatively close encounter - 4.5 million miles - on Tuesday, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The asteroid, known as 2021 KT1, is about 600 feet, the size of the New York Olympic.
OSIRIS-REx Heads For Earth
Concept Image: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft has started its return journey after almost five years in space. The trip is expected to take 2.5 years with OSIRIS-REx currently due to reach Earth on Sept. 24, 2023. As previously reported by
AVweb, the spacecraft touched down briefly on asteroid Bennu last October, successfully collecting more than 2 ounces of soil from the surface.
“OSIRIS-REx’s many accomplishments demonstrated the daring and innovate way in which exploration unfolds in real time,” said associate administrator for science at NASA headquarters Thomas Zurbuchen. “The team rose to the challenge, and now we have a primordial piece of our solar system headed back to Earth where many generations of researchers can unlock its secrets.”
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Is Racing Back to Earth With a Scoop of Asteroid
Illustration: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
OSIRIS-REx, a NASA spacecraft tasked with collecting rocks and dust from a nearby asteroid named Bennu, is coming back home after almost five years away. The spacecraft, officially named Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, officially fired its engines to begin its Earthward journey on May 10. Its return trip will take two and half years.
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Bennu, the asteroid the spacecraft accosted, is a 1,600-foot-wide (500-meter) hunk of rock and ice located 200 million miles (321 million kilometers) from Earth. OSIRIS-REx snagged a handful of dust last October after a fairly dramatic encounter with the desolate little world. NASA was concerned that OSIRIS-REx wouldn’t be able to bring back a full sample due to leaks in the collection system. Thankfully, the samples now are headed to Earth, where they w