Dante Lauretta is principal investigator of the OSIRIS-REx mission and a professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. His research interests focus on the chemistry and mineralogy of asteroids and comets, and he is an expert in the analysis of extraterrestrial materials, including asteroid samples, meteorites and comet particles. The OSIRIS-REx mission will be traveling to Bennu, a carbon-rich, near-Earth asteroid. The spacecraft launched on September 8, 2016, and rendezvoused with Bennu in 2018. Reconnaissance of the prime sample site Nightingale and backup site Osprey will continue until sample collection, which will occur in October of 2020. The sample will return to Earth in 2023 and will be the first for a U.S. mission. The sample may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the organic molecules that may have seeded life on Earth. The mission is in an exciting phase right now as the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft operations continue in the Sample Acquisition campaign. Professor Lauretta will present the latest information gathered during this Sample Acquisition phase of this historic mission.
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Please Note: This is a single lecture event offered online via Zoom. Registration is required.
Visit the OSIRIS-REx mission website for current mission information at asteroidmission.org
