Places for OSIRIS-REx to Touch Asteroid Bennu
Model: gemini-2.0-flash-exp
Prompt version: 1.0
Where is the best place to collect a surface sample from Asteroid Bennu?
Launched in 2016, NASA sent the robotic Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) to investigate the 500-meter-across asteroid 101955 Bennu.
After mapping the near-Earth asteroid’s dark surface, OSIRIS-REx will next touch Bennu’s surface in 2020 August to collect a surface sample.
The featured 23-second time-lapse video shows four candidate locations for the touch, from which NASA chose just one earlier this month. NASA chose the Nightingale near Bennu’s northern hemisphere as the primary touch-down spot because of its relative flatness, lack of boulders, and apparent abundance of fine-grained sand.
Location Osprey is the backup. NASA plans to return soil samples from Bennu to Earth in 2023 for a detailed analysis.
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