Latest images from asteroid Bennu - stunning !

[John]

Some amazing images being returned from the OSIRIS-REX mission to visit tiny asteroid Bennu - including a really surprising particle ejection event:

https://www.asteroidmission.org/galleries/spacecraft-imagery/

I'd kind of forgotten about this mission until I came across these latest images. Everything we explore in space seems to provide surprises, puzzles and the unexpected  

[JamesF]

Seems amazing that it doesn't just completely fall apart given how fast it is travelling.  Stunning photographs.

James

[cletrac1922]

 

2 hours ago, John said:

Some amazing images being returned from the OSIRIS-REX mission to visit tiny asteroid Bennu - including a really surprising particle ejection event:

https://www.asteroidmission.org/galleries/spacecraft-imagery/

I'd kind of forgotten about this mission until I came across these latest images. Everything we explore in space seems to provide surprises, puzzles and the unexpected  

 

Hi Guys

I have downloaded then NASA APP for Android device

This morning, was reading about it as well on the APP, while commuting to work by train

Is also an interesting article on NASA Rover 2020 to Mars as well

Once open the APP,

click on More Stories

APP is updated every day

John 

[Demonperformer]

Fascinating site.

But, looking at the video does make me wonder ... what made them think that putting a "musical" soundtrack on it that drowns out the narration is a good idea?

[SIDO]

Studying the rock lined impact basins on Bennu reveal the low gravity levels as after impact events ejecta are gently returning to the surface creating those quite odd looking basins. 

Some boulders show uneven bottom surfacing characteristics  with spacing between them and the under lying strata indicating soft touch down, a poorly packed surface material with a solid core likely I think.

Neat asteroid indeed...

 

[chiltonstar]

Amazing object, amazing images - thank you for the post John.

Chris

[The Admiral]

Thanks for the link. It is quite remarkable that our engineering expertise allows us to do this, quite staggering. And some quite thought provoking images.

In some way there is something rather familiar looking about the surface, very like when you lay a drive and have spread the hardcore from a freshly delivered pile! All quite loosely laid, before vibrating down*. It made me wonder about the gravitational forces involved. According to Wiki, it has a gravity at its surface of ~ 10µg! To put that into context (if I've got my sums correct ), a football sized boulder, which on Earth would weigh, let's say 10kg, would weigh just 100mg on Bennu. A 2cm diameter pebble would weigh only ~35µg ! So it's a wonder it's held together at all, and it's easy to see how any miniscule disturbance will throw up debris. The wonders of our universe!

Ian

*Edit. Having just made myself a cup of coffee, I see it also resembles granular instant coffee!

[Paul73]

I’m struggling to get my head around how something that small could form and survive with that surface. That should keep me happily distracted from the mundane detail of work until lunchtime. ?

Thanks for posting.

Paul 

[John]

37 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

... it's easy to see how any miniscule disturbance will throw up debris...

 

I guess the scientists are right now trying to figure out what might have caused such a disturbance.

[Space Oddities]

Stunning images! Amazing what we are able to achieve nowadays, thanks to technology. Thanks for sharing, John!

[Geoff Barnes]

Silly I know, but every time I watch that rotating mosaic I expect that big boulder to fly off into space, perhaps it will one day?

[rwilkey]

Hi there, yes, the pictures are stunning and some comments include the possibility of water and that it will hit the Earth in 2135, so this presumably makes it an Apollo asteroid?  Does anyone know if Bennu has been classified as a minor planet?

[The Admiral]

14 minutes ago, Geoff Barnes said:

Silly I know, but every time I watch that rotating mosaic I expect that big boulder to fly off into space, perhaps it will one day?

I know what you mean! But then, it'd be quite boring to watch in real time ;<).

Ian

[cletrac1922]

Hi Guys

This one kind of snuck under the radar

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa-2 spacecraft travelled through space for three and a half years, arriving at an asteroid named Ryugu in June 2018. Ever since then, Hayabusa-2 has been hanging around Ryugu, analysing its surface and practicing for today’s big sample grab

JAXA and  NASA are sharing data on both asteroid probs

 

https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/21/18234782/jaxa-hayabusa-2-ryugu-asteroid-sample-return-mission

 

John

 

[John]

Interesting stuff John.

Also interesting that the JAXA team have reported that Ryugu is much rockier than they were expecting. Similar findings at Benu this month. I wonder if they had expected more areas of finer regolith material in between the rocky parts as Rosetta / Philae found at Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko ?

[Chris]

That's a lot of detail! Amazing really, thanks for sharing