Nasa – Osiris-Rex to take sample again from flying asteroid

Die Nasa-Sonde Osiris-Rex (picture alliance/dpa/Nasa/Goddard Space Flight Center)

To be more precise, the “Osiris-Rex” probe, which is now on its way home to Earth with the sample and is expected here in a year and a half, did it. But after that, “Osiris-Rex” continues. the Nasa announced that the probe should then explore another asteroid – Apophis. According to calculations, this asteroid will pass quite close to the earth in seven years, with a distance of only about 30,000 kilometers. During this time, the NASA probe should then be brought into the orbit of the asteroid in order to take samples here as well.

Learning more about the surface of the asteroids can help NASA researchers calculate their trajectories. Both asteroids cross the earth’s orbit from time to time and could possibly come dangerously close to it.

In addition to Osiris-Rex, NASA also extended seven other missions: five of them deal with Mars, one with the moon, and the “New Horizons” mission, which originally had Pluto as its goal, continues – the probe is now further to the edge of the solar system.

This message was broadcast on 04/28/2022 on Deutschlandfunk.