NASA to Launch Spaceship to Land on Asteroid that ‘Could Hit Earth Next Century’
This September, a NASA spacecraft will launch towards a near-Earth asteroid, Bennu – an ancient chunk of rock which could hit Earth in 160 years’ time.
This week, the spacecraft departed Colorado for Florida – where it will launch into space in September.
The OSIRIS-Rex mission will the first U.S. spacecraft to return a sample from an asteroid, after the Japanese space agency collected samples in 2010.
The mission could pave the way for an asteroid-mining industry – and could also offer crucial information on how to deflect space rocks from Earth.
Huberto Campins of the University of Florida says, ‘Right now it’s not threatening Earth, but of those that could threaten Earth in the future this one could.’
Whether or not the asteroid hits Earth in the late 20th century depends on the Yarkovsky effect – a tiny ‘push’ from the heating of the asteroid, which gradually changes its orbit.
Edward Beshore of the University of Arizona estimates there is a 1 in 2500 chance the asteroid could hit Earth – and that the mission could offer valuable information on this.
Beshore says, ‘We’ll get accurate measurements of the Yarkovsky effect on Bennu by precisely tracking OSIRIS-REx as it orbits the asteroid.
‘In addition, the instrument suite the spacecraft is carrying is perfectly suited to measure all the things that contribute to the Yarkovsky effect, such as composition, energy transport through the surface, temperature, and Bennu’s topography.’
