It's 5 o'clock somewhere – and while here on Earth, "happy hour" is commonly associated with winding down and the optional cold beverage, that's when things get going on Bennu, the destination asteroid of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.
It's 5 o'clock somewhere – and while here on Earth, "happy hour" is commonly associated with winding down and the optional cold beverage, that's when things get going on Bennu, the destination asteroid of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.
In a special collection of research papers published Sep. 9 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, the OSIRIS-REx science team reports detailed observations that reveal Bennu is shedding material on a regular basis. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has provided planetary scientists with the opportunity to observe such activity at close range for the first time ever, and Bennu’s active surface underscores an emerging picture in which asteroids are quite dynamic worlds. The fleeing particles are the beginning of many revelations – from its gravitational field, to its interior compostion, Bennu’s charisma continues to unfold for the team.
The publications provide the first in-depth look at the nature of Bennu's particle ejection events, detail the methods used to study these phenomena, and discuss the likely mechanisms at work that cause the asteroid to release pieces of itself into space.
Read more: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
