SE Exploring Asteroid Bennu

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Near earth asteroid (101955) Bennu is revealed by N.A.S.A.’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft to be a top-shaped rubble pile ~0.5 km in diameter that could potentially collide with the earth. The mission has confirmed its density (1,190 kg/m3) and measured various properties to help predict its orbit. The surface geology is surprising rough, and indicative of shape change during a period of fast rotation. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully sampled the relatively young Hokioi crater on October 20, 2020, and returned the sample to Earth on September 24, 2023. Part of the sample is being analyzed at the University of Calgary.

Speaker: Professor Alan Hildebrand