Today we finally learned where the OSIRIS-REx mission will try to collect a sample, as well as where it will go if a try two is needed. We have an additional update on interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, and we look ahead.
- X MARKS THE SPOT: NASA SELECTS SITE FOR ASTEROID SAMPLE COLLECTION (OSIRIS-REx)
- Nightingale Sample Site (OSIRIS-REx)
- Osprey Sample Site (OSIRIS-REx)
Today is the day that NASA announced the sample selection sites for the OSIRIS-REx mission. We just heard from a NASA livestream that the mission will be going to the Nightingale crater with Osprey as a backup site.
Nightingale is a crater within a crater located at 56 degrees north latitude on this small rotating object This location is scientifically really exciting: the granular material that makes up the regolith in this region has a high variation of color, which could be linked to a variation of minerals. The fine grained material is dark and offers a high likelihood that material can be sucked up by OSIRIS-REx’s TAG instrument. This region also looks relatively safe, and consists of a crater inside a larger crater. Getting to this region, will be more challenging than getting to an equatorial region, but the science potential and smoothness makes this the correct choice.
All that said, there could be hazards that arise that we haven’t foreseen, and because of this, the spacecraft is programmed to recognize situations that could do it harm, and to abort its sample attempt to keep itself safe. If that needs to happen, the mission team has also selected a second site.
That second site is Osprey. This equatorial site is far easier to get to, but also has a giant boulder nearby. Like Nightingale and all the final 4 possible sites, this one was a crater. This region seems to have a lot of carbon-rich minerals based on spectra, and it is highly reflective with significant color variations. This is a nice large area, although it has a significant large boulder in this region too.
The initial timeline for the mission shows a rehearsal will occur around the New Year, with the actual sampling planned for next summer.
As we learn more, we will bring it to you here on the Daily Space.
- INTERSTELLAR COMET 2I/BORISOV SWINGS PAST THE SUN (Hubblesite.org)
In other news, Hubble imaged interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, and it continues to look utterly average. It is thought to be about 3200 ft or not quite a kilometer across, and is chugging through our solar system at a remarkable 100,000 miles per hour. In what is my new favorite image, in November Hubble caught an image as the comet was near a background galaxy. In December, it also imaged it right after it’s closest approach to the sun. Yes, I said after. This comet is now on its way out, never to be seen again. Luckily, we are vaguely on its route out, if you can count 180 million miles away as close, and the comet will be passing closest to us late this month. The fact that this comet is so utterly normal means that the vast resources going into studying it are going to benefit the entire comet community. It also means that the way science works here is indeed the way it works elsewhere.
Much of the other science news coming out this week is related to climate change and is dire.
I’m not going to lie, it’s my birthday and I don’t want to go into climate change today. I want to celebrate having a selected sample site for OSIRIS-REx.
But climate change is important. So I’m going to do a deep dive next week. If you have any specific questions, please send them in via discord, a comment on our podcast, or a tweet to CosmoQuestX.
Next week is going to be a content rich week. In addition to our regular Daily Space, you will be able to catch us on Twitch doing a lot of software development, and updates to our WireCast layouts. This is both because we are gearing up to turn CosmoQuest into as active an open source software program as we can, and because we are gearing up for our yearly Hangoutathon fundraiser. We need to raise about $40k this December to keep all our educational programs going in 2020. We know this is a large amount, but we know we can do this with your help. On Saturday December 21 and Sunday December 22 we will be holding an online telethon – our Hangoutathon – and we will be streaming for 40 straight hours on twitch as we bring in guests, do science demonstrations, and other communicate science while working to raise funding to keep communication science into the future.
So mark your calendars, tune into Twitch.tv/CosmoQuestX next weekend, the weekend before Christmas, and get your fill of science.
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And that rounds out our show for today.
Thank you all for listening. The Daily Space is produced by Susie Murph, and is a product of the Planetary Science Institute, a 501(c)3 non profit dedicated to exploring our Solar System and beyond. We are here thanks to the generous contributions of people like you. Want to become a supporter of the show? Check us out at Patreon.com/cosmoquestx
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