Yesterday, April 25, NASA specialists officially announced that the space agency will send the American interplanetary station OSIRIS-REx for a new study. Initially, the device went to the Bennu asteroid, where, after lengthy studies, soil samples were taken. NASA wanted the station to deliver samples of the asteroid rock to Earth, after which it went to the so-called burial orbit between Mercury and Venus. Now NASA has reported that there is enough fuel left in the tanks of the OSIRIS-REx apparatus to perform new maneuvers, which means that the space station will go to the Apophis asteroid – the one that was originally called the “Earth killer”.
The Apophis asteroid was discovered on June 19, 2004 – it is a huge space object 340 meters long and weighing approximately 61 million tons. Scientists initially believed that in one of its passages the asteroid could collide with the Earth, which, given the dimensions of the body, would with one hundred percent probability lead to fatal consequences on the planet. “Apophis” was considered the most dangerous of the celestial bodies for the Earth of all discovered over the past 100 years, but after clarifying the trajectory of movement, scientists calmed down a little – in 2029 a huge cosmic body will indeed fly very close to the Earth (⅛ of the distance between our planet and the Moon) but no death is expected.
And scientists from NASA decided to take advantage of the situation – they will send the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft as close as possible to the asteroid to make a number of observations important for science. In total, experts plan to observe a space object of grandiose proportions for as long as 18 months, after which the information will be transferred for further analysis. At the same time, OSIRIS-REx will not descend to the asteroid to sample the soil this time.
Source: Trash Box
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
