Asteroid samples will be gathered from space and returned to Earth by a space-faring robot built in Colorado.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which will venture to asteroid Bennu in 2016, is being assembled in a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space Systems’ Waterton Canyon facility, south of Denver.
OSIRIS-REx is short for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in September 2016 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., spend about a year orbiting the sun and hurtle off into space for its approach to the asteroid in August 2018.
Consider this: Bennu orbits the sun at an average speed of 63,000 mph. OSIRIS-REx must catch up, match the asteroid’s orbit and move in sync — maintaining the same speed and direction — while observing and collecting data from the asteroid.
After about a year, it will then maneuver close to the asteroid and deploy a robotic arm that will touch the surface for about five seconds and blast it quickly with nitrogen gas to disrupt the surface, collecting dust and rocks.
That sample will be returned to Earth in 2023, offering scientists possible clues to unraveling the mysteries of the solar system’s origin and the beginnings of life on Earth.
During the critical assembly, test and launch operations phase, technicians at the Waterton Canyon campus are installing subsystems such as avionics, navigation and power. The spacecraft soon will be powered up and be ready for rigorous testing by fall, according to a Lockheed Martin news release.
“After almost four years of intense design efforts, we are now starting flight-system assembly and integration of the science instruments,” said Dante Lauretta, principal investigator from the University of Arizona. “In just over 500 days, we will begin our seven-year journey to Bennu and back.”
The project completed a series of independent reviews certifying it is on track from technical, schedule and cost standpoints, resulting in the green light from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to go to the mission’s next phase.
Spacecraft mission operations will be managed in Littleton by Lockheed Martin. It will ride to space on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. ULA is based in Centennial.
About 5,500 people work at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, making it Jefferson County’s largest employer, according to the county’s Economic Development Corporation.
Lockheed Martin employs about 112,000 people worldwide.
Laura Keeney: 303-954-1337, lkeeney@denverpost.com or twitter.com/LauraKeeney
