OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Earth Flyby Results & Image Release

What:
Release of results and images from University of Arizona’s OSIRIS-REx Mission Earth Flyby

When:
1 p.m. MST, Tuesday, Sept. 26

Where:
Michael J. Drake Building, 14125 N. 6th Ave., Tucson, AZ

Note: All visitors must present a valid government ID in order to sign in at the front desk, obtain a badge and be accompanied by staff.

On Friday, NASA’s asteroid sample return spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, will make a close flyby of Earth to slingshot itself onto a path toward the asteroid Bennu. During the spacecraft’s maneuver, the mission team, headquartered at the University of Arizona, will engage the spacecraft’s science instruments and take images and spectra of the Earth and Moon.

Next Tuesday, OSIRIS-REx mission team members will discuss the results of the spacecraft’s Earth flyby and release images of the Earth taken by the spacecraft’s cameras. Members of the OSIRIS-REx team will be available for interviews.

Dante Lauretta of the UA is the mission’s principal investigator, and the UA also leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing.

Also of Interest: Six UA members of the OSIRIS-REx team will be online from 1 to 3 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, Sept. 21, for an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit. The link will be posted at https://www.asteroidmission.org/reddit-ask-us-anything-earth-gravity-assist as soon as it goes live Thursday. Scheduled participants are Lauretta, Heather Enos, Sara Knutson, Ellen Howell, Joshua Nelson and Anjani Polit.

Contact:
Erin Morton
OSIRIS-REx Communications
+1 520-269-2493
morton@orex.lpl.arizona.edu

Established in 1885, the University of Arizona, the state’s super land-grant university with two medical schools, produces graduates who are real-world ready through its 100% Engagement initiative. Recognized as a global leader and ranked 16th for the employability of its graduates, the UA is also a leader in research, bringing more than $606 million in research investment each year, and ranking 21st among all public universities. The UA is advancing the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships, and is a member of the Association of American Universities, the 62 leading public and private research universities. It benefits the state with an estimated economic impact of $8.3 billion annually.