OSIRIS-APEX is the extended mission for the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
ejectr Member
Posts: 1896 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
posted 04-25-2022 06:25 PM
Was standing on Playalinda Beach to watch the launch of Osiris-Rex. Phenomenal that it will be used to visit another asteroid.
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3449 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
posted 04-27-2022 08:18 PM
Frustratingly, whoever wrote the University of Arizona's press release has carefully avoided estimating when the ORIRIS-APEX spacecraft will actually arrive at Apophis. We know that Apophis will be targeted after the Bennu sample is returned to Earth in September next year; we know that the team want to study Apophis for 18 months; and that they will study the effects on the structure of Apophis of the close approach to Earth in April, 2029. That suggests to me that arrival could be anywhere between the end of 2027 and the beginning of 2029.