OSIRIS-REx spacecraft

[jadnashua]

This space exploration mission started in 2016, and over the course of its flight, it went 3.86B miles...that's a long way!

It was sent to obtain a sample of the asteroid Bennu, obtained a sample from it, and that capsule was returned to Earth today. Bennu is in close orbit with the Earth to the sun, and there's the possibility it could impact the Earth in 186 years, but that's another issue we'd have to address way after I'm gone...

Anyway, it's pretty amazing how far this thing went, that it could locate, orbit, then sample, and return that material back to Earth at a known location in a US Test Range in Utah. The capsule was dropped by the mission device from about 63000-miles up and 27000mph, and is continuing on in space to do some additional research. Think of the precision needed to do that...sort of boggles my mind.

[cx]

Mind boggling, indeed. If it were a manned flight, they'd need to pack a lunch for sure.

The calculations involved with that sort of thing have never ceased to amaze me. Yeah, we got really, really fast computers and all, but somebody had to figger out what to calculate. I guess a fella can go to school to learn all that, but when I think about trying to put all that in my little bitty brain, it makes my head hurt.

When it hits the earth in 186 years, will there be any live humans here? Will it hit an ice covered earth, or a really hot one? Will it be blamed upon Democrats or Republicans?

[jadnashua]

Well, hopefully, we'll have perfected how to deflect wayward asteroids by then...remember, we recently hit one to see what happens and how things reacted, so we're getting started.

The size of Bennu is smaller than the one that killed off the dinosaurs, but it would still mess things up should it hit Earth. Wouldn't be as catastrophic, but you certainly wouldn't want to be anywhere near where it hit!

[Lazarus]

So, can someone explain this? Coordinates from, Google Sky.


2 41 32.38 7 53 16.51

[jadnashua]

I think it's in hours minutes seconds of right ascension and hours minute seconds of declination.

Right ascension is measured from 0 to 24 hours, with one hour of RA equal to the amount the sky rotates above a given point on the Earth's surface in one hour of time. Zero hours of RA is at the point of the vernal equinox, with RA increasing eastward from that point.

Declination is analogous to latitude, with 0 degrees declination located at the celestial equator. Declination values range from ?90° directly above the South Pole to +90° directly above the North Pole.

Now, locating the vernal equinox and the celestial equinox gets a bit harder.