Lin Hsin Hsin Space Station

NASA OSIRIS-REx Mission



Z


OSIRIS-REx ACRONYM



DEFINITION

OSIRIS-REx is an acronym that incorporates the mission’s major concepts and goals. When the mission was first being formed, then-Deputy Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta was working to define the science investigation for an asteroid sample return mission. In writing out a list of the big ideas that the science plan would be based on, Dr. Lauretta realized that they spelled out OSIRIS



O – Origins

Return and analyze a sample of a pristine carbon-rich asteroid to study the nature, history, and distribution of its minerals and organic material

SI – Spectral Interpretation

Define the global properties of a primitive carbon-rich asteroid to allow for direct comparison with existing ground-based telescopic data for all asteroids

RI – Resource Identification

Map the global properties, chemistry, mineralogy of a primitive carbon-rich asteroid to define its geologic and dynamic history and provide context for the returned sample

S – Security

Measure the Yarkovsky Effect* on a potentially hazardous asteroid and learn which asteroid properties contribute to this effect
* A force caused by the emission of heat from a rotating asteroid that can change its orbit over time

REx – Regolith Explorer

Document the texture, morphology, geochemistry, and spectral properties of the regolith (surface material) at the sampling site





Mythological Origin

The mythology of the Egyptian god Osiris loosely parallels the OSIRIS-REx mission. Osiris, in his original form, was believed to have spread an understanding of agriculture throughout the Nile Delta, hence bringing life to the ancient world.

Likewise, OSIRIS-REx seeks to return samples of an asteroid that may contain organics that led to the origin of life on Earth. Osiris also had a dual role as the god of the Underworld, which mirrors the destruction that large asteroid impacts have created



Text Source: NASA