Asteroid Bennu Backup Sample Site: Osprey

The main science goal of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is to briefly touch down on near-Earth asteroid Bennu and collect a sample of fine-grained material, but the asteroid's unexpected roughness could pose a hazard to the spacecraft. After a year of scoping out Bennu's boulder-scattered surface, the OSIRIS-REx team has officially selected a primary and a backup sample collection site. The team concluded that a site designated "Osprey" - located in a crater just north of Bennu's equatorial bulge - is the best backup location in the event that OSIRIS-REx is unable to collect a sample from the primary site ("Nightingale").

Learn more about sample sites Nightingale and Osprey: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/x-marks-the-spot-nasa-selects-site-for-asteroid-sample-collection/

Learn more about OSIRIS-REx: https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/CSA/York University/MDA Visualization

Credits
Kel Elkins (USRA): Visualizer
Dan Gallagher (USRA): Producer
Erin Morton (University of Arizona): Communications Lead
Nancy Neal-Jones (NASA/GSFC): Communications Lead
Ian Jones (ADNET): Technical Support
Eric Sokolowsky (GST): Technical Support


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