In the year 2080, an asteroid called 101955 Bennu, (formerly called 1999 RQ36), will make a series of close orbital approaches to Earth, and there is a one in 1,800 chance of it colliding with the planet.
At 493 meters (1,617 feet) wide, Bennu may not destroy the planet, but it sure could create a lot of damage and panic. Bennu is an Apollo asteroid discovered by the LINEAR Project on September 11, 1999.
On May 25, 2011, NASA announced the agency would launch a spacecraft in 2016, and using a robotic arm, pluck samples from the asteroid that could better explain our solar system’s formation and how life began.
The mission, called Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth. Scientists looked to Canada for the special instrument and expertise needed to study the geology of the asteroid.
The CSA came through, producing the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA). OLA is an advanced LIDAR (Light Detecting and Ranging) system that will scan the entire surface of Bennu, providing a highly accurate, 3D shape model of the asteroid. Scientists will them have some basic data on the asteroid, like shape, topography (distribution of boulders, rocks and other surface features), surface processes and evolution.
The OLA arrived at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado on December 17 for integration onto NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Osiris-REx is expected to launch in late 2016. The spacecraft should reach the asteroid target in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023.
This information will be critical to the actual sampling of the asteroid. Navigators back on Earth will have to maneuver the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft around Bennu to pluck the samples. The CSA will also get a portion of the returned samples. CBC News says the mission expects to bring back a total of 60 grams of samples from Bennu, of which CSA will get four percent for participating in the mission.
“OLA will measure the shape and topography of Bennu to a much higher fidelity and with much greater efficiency than any planetary science mission has achieved,” said Michael Daly, OLA instrument lead at York University, Toronto. “This information is essential to understanding the evolution and current state of the asteroid. It also provides invaluable information in aid of retrieving a sample of Bennu for return to Earth.”
