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OSIRIS-REx asteroid probe makes final maneuver before Sept. 24 sample delivery
By Mike Wall published about 2 hours ago
OSIRIS-REx conducted one last trajectory-correcting engine burn on Sunday (Sept. 17).
A training model of the sample return capsule is seen is seen during a drop test in preparation for the retrieval of the sample return capsule from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. (Image credit: NASA/Keegan Barber)
NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe performed one last trajectory-correcting maneuver on Sunday (Sept. 17) to set up the Sept. 24 arrival of its asteroid sample here on Earth.
OSIRIS-REx fired its thrusters briefly on Sunday, changing the probe's velocity by 7 inches (17.8 centimeters) per minute, NASA said.
"This final correction maneuver moved the sample capsule's predicted landing location east by nearly 8 miles, or 12.5 kilometers, to the center of its predetermined landing zone inside a 36-mile by 8.5-mile (58-kilometer by 14-kilometer) area on the Defense Department's Utah Test and Training Range," agency officials wrote in an update today (Sept. 19).
Sunday's engine burn was a tweak of a crucial Sept. 10 maneuver that set OSIRIS-REx on the proper course for capsule release on Sept. 24, which will take place about 63,000 miles (102,000 km) above Earth, NASA officials added. The probe is currently about 1.8 million miles (2.8 million km) from our planet, heading toward us at roughly 14,000 mph (23,000 kph).
More:
https://www.space.com/osiris-rex-final-course-correction-asteroid-sample-delivery