US space agency NASA will launch a spacecraft in September to a near-Earth asteroid known as Bennu to harvest a sample of surface material and return it to the Earth to scan for signs of life.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will measure the spectral signatures of Bennu’s mineralogical and molecular components. Ideally, the sample will come from a region in which the building blocks of life may be found.
- OVIRS (OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer), the instrument on board will measure visible and near-infrared light reflected and emitted from the asteroid and split the light into its component wavelengths, much like a prism that splits sunlight into a rainbow.
- OVIRS is key to our search for organics on Bennu, will work in tandem with another OSIRIS-REx instrument – the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES).
- OVIRS maps the asteroid in the visible and near infrared, OTES picks up in the thermal infrared.This will allow the science team to map the entire asteroid over a range of wavelengths that are most interesting to scientists searching for organics and water.
- Bennu, the near earth asteroid, have the possibility of the presence of organic molecules that are the building blocks of life on its surface, as it is a B-type asteroid. The spacecraft will reach the asteroid after 2 years from its take off from earth. The plan is to grab at least 60 grams of pristine surface material and return it to Earth for further analysis. OSIRIS-Rex will reach the earth in 2023 after departing the asteroid in 2021.
