Tag Archives: OSIRIS-REx

In this episode of the Space Economy podcast we discuss asteroids as a resource with Dr. Dante Lauretta. This is the fourth of ten episodes in our special series Doing Business in the Solar System hosted by Elizabeth Howell.

Canada was all over the solar system – and even peering beyond its borders – in 2020. Canadian technology helped a spacecraft touch down on a comet, and was named to hunt for exoplanets on a future NASA telescope. Canadian researchers were also busy with space science studies, and companies continued to win contracts amid a tough economic environment due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. …

It was scripted to happen this way, but when it did what it was supposed to do, ground controllers and scientists elation was clearly evident. What had just happened? A spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, had just “touched” down, albeit it for seconds, on asteroid Bennu, grabbed a bunch of “dust and pebbles,” and taken off again with its prize. It lasted mere seconds, yet took years to …

Just days ahead of a spacecraft landing on Bennu, a newly released model of the asteroid shows a complex history – including the fact that its surface regolith might have expanded and contracted at least once.

In mid-February the Canadian built OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft did not perform as expected. The mission team now have a better understanding of what happened.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency reported yesterday that preliminary data sent back from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft indicates that the Canadian built OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) did not perform as expected on its latest usage.

The NASA led OSIRIS-REx mission is exceeding scientists expectations and now they have to make the difficult decision of where to land the spacecraft from four candidate sites on asteroid Bennu to collect samples.

Before the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in orbit around asteroid Bennu can take a sample from the surface it needs to be mapped. That’s where Canada’s OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) comes in.

In the early evening of January 25 at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, a panel of experts provided an introduction, update and context of Canada’s participation in the OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission.

Canada is participating in the NASA led OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu. In early December the spacecraft went into orbit around the asteroid. Why are we participating in this mission?