NASA has picked the landing spot for OSIRIS-REx's asteroid-sample collection

[krispos42]

Looks like they were hoping for a 50-meter-diameter site, but only found a 16-meter one (164'/52'). So there's going to try to land in that area, miss all the boulders, grab samples, and come back.

Holy crap, we have a robot that's going to land in a 52-foot circle in a crater on a distant asteroid, with no air and virtually no gravity, god-knows-how-many millions of miles from Earth... automatically.

X Marks the Spot: NASA Selects Site for Asteroid Sample Collection

Dec. 12, 2019
RELEASE 19-097

After a year scoping out asteroid Bennu’s boulder-scattered surface, the team leading NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission has officially selected a sample collection site.

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) mission team concluded a site designated “Nightingale” – located in a crater high in Bennu’s northern hemisphere – is the best spot for the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to snag its sample.

<snip>

Site Nightingale is located in a northern crater 460 feet (140 meters) wide. Nightingale’s regolith – or rocky surface material – is dark, and images show that the crater is relatively smooth. Because it is located so far north, temperatures in the region are lower than elsewhere on the asteroid and the surface material is well-preserved. The crater also is thought to be relatively young, and the regolith is freshly exposed. This means the site would likely allow for a pristine sample of the asteroid, giving the team insight into Bennu’s history.

Although Nightingale ranks the highest of any location on Bennu, the site still poses challenges for sample collection. The original mission plan envisioned a sample site with a diameter of 164 feet (50 meters). While the crater that hosts Nightingale is larger than that, the area safe enough for the spacecraft to touch is much smaller – approximately 52 feet (16 meters) in diameter, resulting in a site that is only about one-tenth the size of what was originally envisioned. This means the spacecraft has to very accurately target Bennu’s surface. Nightingale also has a building-size boulder situated on the crater’s eastern rim, which could pose a hazard to the spacecraft while backing away after contacting the site.

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https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/x-marks-the-spot-nasa-selects-site-for-asteroid-sample-collection/

[abqtommy]

1. If science can accomplish that maybe there's an easier way to get rid of tRUMP et al.