Asteroid Autumn at Marshall Space Flight Center: OSIRIS-REx returns as Psyche prepares to launch

As autumn leaves begin to fall in Huntsville, the engineers and scientists at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) on Redstone Arsenal are gearing up for an eventful season dubbed “Asteroid Autumn.” The excitement is palpable as MSFC crews dive into a series of asteroid-focused missions that promise to deliver groundbreaking discoveries and insights into the mysteries of our solar system.

Sunday, September 24th, 2023 marked a pivotal date in the world of space exploration as the OSIRIS-REx Mission returned to earth after a completing successful 7 year mission that started back in 2016. 

The OSIRIS-REx mission, an acronym for Origins, Spectra’s Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, had one major goal: to retrieve a sample from an asteroid and bring it back to Earth for detailed analysis. Launched into the cosmos on September 8, 2016, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, this mission reached a crucial milestone in October 2020 when the spacecraft briefly touched down on the asteroid Bennu, collecting invaluable samples from its surface.

This past weekend, with bated breath, scientists and space enthusiasts awaited the capsule’s return to Earth’s embrace, a momentous event that will see it touch down in a remote section of Utah’s desert, just outside Salt Lake City. This achievement, made possible by the dedicated NASA scientists at Marshall Space Flight Center, is a testament to the ingenuity and perseverance of the human spirit in the pursuit of knowledge.

Solveig Irvine, the Mission Manager of OSIRIS-REx, has been at the forefront of this ambitious venture for over a decade.

“This is something we’ve been dreaming of and preparing for, for over ten years,” Irvine shared with excitement. She is eager to see the capsule’s safe return in Utah.

The significance of understanding Bennu’s composition cannot be overstated.

“Understanding the composition of Bennu is going to help us understand kind of what the microbiology here, the chemistry was here, at Earth, before we had life on Earth. As well as what kind of chemistry goes on in space,” Irvine elucidated

Despite the mission’s success in collecting samples, it didn’t unfold precisely as planned. Upon touching down on Bennu’s surface, the spacecraft sank much deeper than anticipated. Irvine explained, “All the data we had at the time said that it was going to be a sandy-like surface, and when we got there, it was not sandy at all. So, we had to kind of design things on the fly.”

As September comes to a close, the scientific community, alongside the dedicated teams at Marshall Space Flight Center, is on the cusp of remarkable revelations. With the OSIRIS-REx capsule’s safe landing and the Psyche Mission’s forthcoming launch, “Asteroid Autumn” promises to be a season filled with awe-inspiring discoveries and technological advancements.

While the capsule’s journey from space to Earth posed formidable challenges, including extreme temperatures and hypersonic speeds, the team of scientists and meteorologists diligently monitored weather conditions to ensure a successful recovery. The desert landscape of Utah, known for its scorching temperatures and salt flats, provided the backdrop for this historic event.

Eric Nelson, a U.S. Army meteorologist supporting the mission, highlighted the significance of weather conditions on the mission’s success.

“We should know by the end of monsoon season how much precipitation we’ve received and the condition of the salt flats,” Nelson explained. Fortunately, favorable conditions during Bonneville Speed Week in August provide reassurance.

To further enhance the mission’s preparedness, weather balloons were deployed in the days leading up to the capsule’s landing, gathering critical data on atmospheric conditions. These observations aided in estimating the likely landing location on the range.

As the capsule separated from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and entered Earth’s atmosphere, it utilized a protective entry system designed to withstand extreme temperatures. Radar and infrared tracking systems closely monitored its descent.

Amidst the excitement surrounding OSIRIS-REx, NASA has yet another asteroid-focused mission in the works – the Psyche Mission. Scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on October 5th, 2023 (the beginning of the launch window), this mission will venture to an asteroid named Psyche.

Psyche, a unique and metal-rich asteroid situated between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, holds a trove of secrets waiting to be unveiled. Brad Zavodsky, Mission Manager for the Psyche Mission at Marshall Space Flight Center, provided insights into this pioneering mission. Amazingly enough, Psyche (the name of the asteroid as well as the payload) is the only metal-rich asteroid to be observed in the entire solar system. This has lead scientist to believe it could possibly be the the remnants of an early planetary core that didn’t fully develop.  

Zavodsky elaborated on the mission’s instruments, stating, “It has a Gamma Ray and Neutron Spectrometer, a Magnetometer, and two imagers.” These tools will be instrumental in deciphering whether Psyche is a planetary core, possibly resembling Earth’s core, or if it represents a different type of celestial body. Such revelations could shed light on the formation of Earth and the early solar system.

Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) is an exciting technology demonstration accompanying the Psyche Mission. Joel Robinson, DSOC Mission Manager, provided insights into this cutting-edge endeavor. DSOC’s goal is to utilize lasers for communication over vast distances in space, a feat that could revolutionize future space exploration.

Robinson explained the uniqueness of DSOC.

“Laser effectively works on other frequencies that radio communications does not. What makes it unique is its bandwidth capability, and so we’re talking about being able to move more data within a particular time frame than you could with radio communications,” said Robinson.

This leap in communication technology could play a pivotal role in future missions beyond Earth’s orbit, including potential journeys to the Moon and Mars.

A facility north of San Bernardino, California, serves as the launchpad for this laser communication system. Robinson detailed the process: “Onboard Psyche, it has a trans-receiver so it’s both transmitter and receiver, and so it’s able to receive that information, do its magic and try and send that information back to an observatory near San Diego, and so that’s how that information is sent back and forth.”

The Psyche Mission, led by Arizona State University and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), promises to unravel the enigmatic properties of Psyche, all while pushing the boundaries of communication technology in space.