OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission: The Latest Images and Updates From the Asteroid Bennu

Please join us for our Spring 2019 New Discoveries Lecture "OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission: The Latest Images and Updates From the Asteroid Bennu."

While many on Earth prepared to welcome in the New Year 2019, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, 70 million miles away, carried out a single, eight-second burn of its thrusters – and broke a space exploration record. The spacecraft entered into orbit around the asteroid Bennu, and made Bennu the smallest object ever to be orbited by a spacecraft.

Now that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is closer to Bennu, physical details about the asteroid will leap into sharper focus, and the spacecraft’s tour of this rubble pile of primordial debris will become increasingly detailed and focused.

At this lecture, join OSIRIS-REx mission team members Phil Christensen of ASU and Vicky Hamilton of the Southwest Research Institute, along with other members of the OSIRIS-REx mission team for a closer look at Bennu and what we hope to learn from this ongoing mission.

About the speakers:

Phil Christensen is a co-investigator on the OSIRIS-REx mission and the lead of the spacecraft’s OTES instrument. He is a Regents' Professor and the Ed and Helen Korrick Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at ASU. As a geologist and geophysicist, his research interests focus on the composition, processes, and physical properties of Mars, the Earth, and other planetary surfaces. In addition to building OTES for OSIRIS-REx, Christensen has built five science instruments that have flown on NASA missions to Mars, including the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera on Mars Odyssey, the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) instruments on the Mars Exploration Rovers, and the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) on Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Observer.

Vicky Hamilton is a co-investigator on the OSIRIS-REx mission and the lead for the OTES spectrum analysis team. She is a planetary geologist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado and studies Mars and Earth and asteroids. The focus of her research is understanding the spectral features of minerals and rocks in the visible, near infrared, and thermal infrared portions of the electro-magnetic spectrum and using this knowledge to identify and/or characterize the rocks and minerals on planetary surfaces. Most of her recent work has focused on analysis of data from ongoing NASA spacecraft missions at Mars, in addition to her work as co-investigator on the OSIRIS-REx and Lucy missions.

FAQs

What are my parking options?

The Marston Exploration Theater is located on the first floor of ASU's Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV (ISTB 4), the home of the School of Earth and Space Exploration. ISTB 4 (map) is located near the intersection of Rural and Terrace Road in Tempe on the east side of campus. This seven-story structure is ASU’s largest research facility, and is accessible on foot via Orange Street and McAllister Ave. If arriving by Light Rail, exit at the University and Rural Road stop.

Parking is available inside the Rural Road parking structure just east of ISTB 4. From the parking structure, walk west and enter ISTB4 through the glass doors on the north side of the building. Please note that there is a parking fee that is $3/hour and is charged upon exiting the parking structure. There is additional pay parking directly south of ISTB4 available for $3/hour. as well. There is an automated payment registration kiosk on the parking lot's west side (the corner near the building).

Do I need to arrive early?

Guests are recommended to show up by 7:15 p.m. to gain entry into the theater. At 7:30 p.m. any seats will be released to first come/first served at the door.

Do I need to print my Eventbrite ticket(s)?

Please help us to be more sustainable and avoid printing your registration ticket(s).

Where can I contact the organizer with any questions?

Contact the SESE Alumni and Events Coordinator, Stephanee Germaine, at stephanee.germaine@asu.edu.