10 Apr 2014 - Construction to Begin on NASA Spacecraft Set to Visit Asteroid in 2018

[NASA]

10 Apr 2014 - Construction to Begin on NASA Spacecraft Set to Visit Asteroid in 2018
NASA's team that will conduct the first U.S. mission to collect samples from an asteroid has been given the go-ahead to begin building the spacecraft, flight instruments and ground system, and launch support facilities.


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[Matt P]

That gonna be one of your public-consumption-only combustible fuel dinosaur crafts or one of the anti-gravity crafts you won't let anyone know about?
Gee, thanks for the propaganda "update" NASA.

[swoods_blue]

So the "Osiris-Rex" mission is going to visit the asteroid "Bennu", hey?

From Wikipedia:

"According to Egyptian mythology, the Bennu was a self-created being said to have played a role in the creation of the world. It was said to be the ba of Ra and enabled the creative actions of Atum. It was said to have flown over the waters of Nun that existed before creation, landing on a rock and issuing a call that determined the nature of creation. It was also a symbol of rebirth and was therefore associated with Osiris."

What are they expecting to find, I wonder? Somebody has some real notions of grandeur for this mission to gather up 2 oz. of humble asteroid material. Anybody who has doubted Hoagland's commentary about the esoteric side of NASA should take a look at this one.

[swoods_blue]

Oh, BTW, the full Wikipedia entry on the astroid Bennu has lots of interesting info. It's a possible future Earth impactor almost 500 meters across discovered in 1999. It's a fairly easy object to reach from earth orbit, and studies suggest a slight possiblity of an Earth impact somwhere between 2169 and 2199.

The name of the asteroid, Bennu, was suggested by North Carolina third-grader Michael Puzio as part of a University of Arizona contest because he is said to have thought that the OSIRIS-REx craft resembled the Egyptian Bennu bird. You decide if that's the first thing that comes to your mind:



Could be... maybe he's simply more acqainted with Egyptian mythology than most third-graders. But to me it seems like an obvious example choosing the name they wanted all alog.

Wikipedia: 101955 Bennu

EDIT: The image isn't displaying properly, but the code looks OK

[Star Tsar]

One month & a bit to go...

Posted by Star Tsar (here)
NASA

OSIRIS REx Approach Media Telecon

Published 18th October 2018

NASA’s telecon updates on mission activities as the OSIRIS REx probe approaches asteroid Bennu on December 3rd 2018.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=5crcyGEEloc