►
Description
Ed Beshore
OSIRIS-REx is coming home.
What will it tell us about the history of the solar system?
On September 24, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will complete its 7-year journey to the primitive asteroid Bennu, returning to Earth with a substantial sample of surface material. Why are these asteroids important? What were the challenges in the mission design? Why did the science team have an unusual role in the operational aspects of the mission? Did our assumptions about what we would find at Bennu pan out or was it a total surprise? What will happen with the sample? Ed Beshore, former Deputy Principal Investigator of the mission will discuss these and other questions.
************************* This is an online event *************************
The Imaging SIG meets roughly every month Online to discuss topics about imaging. The SIG is open to people with absolutely no experience but want to learn what it’s all about, but experienced imagers are also more than welcome, indeed, encouraged to participate.
A
B
B
B
I
actually
started
out
as
an
amateur
I
was
in
the
computer
industry
through
the
90s
and
I
had
a
business
that
afforded
me
the
opportunity
to
build
a
telescope
in
my
backyard
in
Colorado,
so
I
had
a
first
of
all
a
10
inch
need,
then
a
14
inch,
Celestron
and
I've
got
a
six
inch.
Astrophysics
refractor
now
and
I
was
having
a
lot
of
fun
with
it.
B
I
did
some
work
with
the
center
for
backyard
astrophysics,
a
group
that
was
doing
some
citizen
science
work,
I
was
doing
photometry
and
I
was
having
such
a
ball.
That
I
asked
my
wife
who,
by
the
way,
has
a
degree
in
Optics
so
made
it
really
easy
to
buy
a
lot
of
this
stuff.
But
I
I
said
I
really
need
a
bigger
telescope
and
she
said
your
Grant
committee
has
cut
you
off.
B
You
need
to
find
somebody
who
has
a
bigger
telescope
and
go
work
for
them,
and
so
I
took
her
seriously
and
I
went
back
to
my
alma
mater
at
the
University
of
Arizona
and
looked
up
a
friend
of
mine
who
was
starting
the
Catalina
Sky
survey,
which
is
a
near-earth
object.
Survey
looking
for
hazardous
asteroids
that
might
hit
the
earth
and
I
had
automated
my
telescope
in
my
backyard,
so
that
I
could
keep
my
day
job
and
and
I'll.
A
B
At
the
Catalina,
Sky
survey
needed
the
same
thing
done
at
the
time
they
just
had
this
telescope
in
the
lower
right
hand,
corner,
which
is
a
one
meter,
Schmidt
camera,
and
they
had
just
put
a
4K
by
4K
CCD
on
it
back
illuminated.
It
was
pretty
hot
stuff
and
was
already
beginning
to
put
their
eyes
on
an
unused
60-inch
reflector
at
the
top
of
Mount
Lemon
outside
of
Tucson
Arizona.
That's
the
telescope,
that's
on
the
left!
B
When
the
opportunity
came
along
for
me
to
become
the
deputy
Pi
of
osiris-rex
in
2012.
and
the
job
there
was
quite
a
bit.
Different
I
had
learned
quite
a
bit
about
technical
management,
and
so
my
job
was
to
manage
the
science
team,
and
the
picture
at
the
bottom
is
is
our
science
team
and
what
made
our
science
team
different
than
most
missions
missions
are
typically
like
the
science
TEAM
stands
down
until
the
spacecraft
gets
put
wherever
it's
supposed
to
go.
B
That
means,
if
you're
going
to
orbit
around
Mars,
they
get
you
into
orbit
around
Mars.
They
get
a
nice
stable
orbit.
They
make
sure
they
check
out
the
spacecraft
and
then
they
turn
it
over
to
the
science
team
and
say
have
a
ball.
Osiris-Rex
was
very
different
because
we
were
relying
on
the
science
team
to
actually
produce
products
that
were
necessary
for
the
conduct
of
the
mission
we
needed
to
produce
the
topographic
maps.
B
The
spacecraft
is
up
in
the
upper
left-hand
corner
I'm
in
the
guy
in
the
middle
bunny
suit,
and
then
I
always
like
to
show
people
this
the
Whiteboard
on
the
right,
because
that
was
my
to-do
list
as
the
pi
I
was
responsible
for
all
sorts
of
the
subsystems
and
monitoring
that
sort
of
thing.
But
in
addition,
keeping
the
science
team
going
now
the
Wayside
the
waste
NASA
runs
missions,
as
I
was
explaining
to
high
a
little
earlier.
B
If
you
grew
up,
you
know
in
the
60s,
you
probably
knew
that,
as
you
started
out
with
your
family,
maybe
you'd
go
out
and
buy
a
Chevrolet
and
then
someday
you
might
get
a
Pontiac
or
a
Buick
and
then
ultimately,
if
your
career
really
worked
out,
you'd
get
a
Cadillac.
Well,
NASA
has
the
same
approach
towards
missions.
They
have,
they
have
what
they
call
Discovery
class
missions
at
the
time.
Those
were
600
million
dollars,
plus
the
rocket
or
either
I
should
say,
including
the
rocket.
B
Our
mission
was
the
Buick.
It's
a
what's
called
a
New
Frontiers
Mission
and
New
Horizons,
which
is
the
spacecraft
that
went
to
Pluto
was
a
New
Frontiers
Mission.
Those
typically
were
cost
capped
at
around
a
billion
dollars,
including
the
rocket,
and
that
cost
cap
also
includes
reserves.
So
we
had
to
maintain
about
200
million
in
reserves,
because
NASA
knows
that
when
you
do
this
stuff,
you
end
up
having
to
spend
money.
B
With
the
the
discovery
and
the
New
Frontiers
missions,
then
they
also
have
you
know
the
the
flagship
missions
and
that's
the
missions
like
the
Rover,
that's
on
Mars
right
now
and
those
are
typically
run
directly
by
NASA
and
those
are
very
expensive,
oftentimes
running
several
billion
dollars.
So
that's
that's
a
different
class
of
mission,
but
we
would
partner
when
we
put
the
mission
together,
we
partnered
with
Lockheed
Martin,
who
would
develop
the
the
spacecraft.
B
C
C
B
Supreme,
so
we
had
this
picture
perfect
liftoff
on
September,
8th
of
2016..
We
were
on
an
atlas
what
they
call
4-1-1
Rocket.
We
had
one
solid
rocket
booster
on
the
side
and
everything
just
went
beautifully
if
you've
ever
watched
a
launch
from
from
Cape
Canaveral
oftentimes,
it's
insufferably,
hot
and
humid.
The
mosquitoes
can
be
terrible
there,
but
it
was
not
like
that
at
all.
On
this
day
we
had
this
beautiful,
onshore
Breeze
and
it
was
just
a
picture-perfect
launch.
Spacecraft
worked
great.
B
So
you
know
all
of
these
missions
start
with
a
a
thousands
and
thousands
of
requirements,
but
all
these
requirements
all
sort
of
work
upwards
to
these
basic
mission
objectives.
So
all
the
requirement
requirements
of
a
mission
really
can
be
traced
to
these
top
level
objectives
of
what
you
want
to
accomplish.
With
your
mission
and
the
top
level
objective.
B
For
us
I
mean
the
principal
objective
was
to
return
and
analyze
a
sample
of
a
carbonaceous
asteroid
and
enough
of
it
to
study
the
nature
of
its
of
its
history
in
the
app
and
the
solar
system.
The
whole
idea
here
is
that
if
we
went
to
a
primitive
asteroid,
we
might
very
well
find
materials
that
were
relatively
unprocessed
since
the
beginning
of
the
solar
system
and
we're
really
trying
to
address
some
of
the
basic
questions
of
where
did
water
come
from.
B
That
is
really
not
a
solved
problem
at
this
point,
although
we're
starting
to
get
a
better
sense
of
things,
and
we
thought
that
by
bringing
back
a
a
a
sample
of
a
carbonaceous
asteroid,
which
is
the
most
primitive
type
of
asteroid,
that
we
might
be
able
to
actually
answer
some
of
these
key
questions,
I
like
to
show
this
picture
of
NGC
3603,
because
it's
really
quite
extraordinary,
it's
it's.
It
was
taken
with
the
Hubble
Space
Telescope,
but
it
shows
actually
some
of
the
key
phases
of
evolution
in
in
one
image.
B
So
you
see
these
hot
blue
white
stars
in
the
center
they're
burning
up
their
fuel
really
rapidly.
They
are
generally
quite
massive:
that's
why
they
burn
their
fuel
so
quickly
and
eventually
they
become
unstable
and
they
they
create
Supernova
and
there's
actually
a
supernova
Remnant
just
to
the
about
10
o'clock
from
the
the
cluster
in
the
middle,
and
you
can
see
a
ring
around
it
and
you
can
see
two
polar
outflows
on
either
side
of
it
and
it's
injecting
into
the
interstellar
medium.
All
this
print,
this
material
that
was
synthesized
during
the
the
Supernova.
B
Fortunately,
telescopes
like
the
web,
have
really
transformed
our
our
understanding
of
how
these
things
work
and
we're
actually
taking
pictures
now
of
protoplanetary
discs,
which
are
showing
gaps
like
our
asteroid
belts
and
we're
actually
starting
to
see
even
condensations
in
these
clouds
that
may
be
planets
starting
to
form,
which
is
just
it's
just
kind
of
a
side,
but
it's
just
such
a
fantastic
image.
I
had
to
show
it
tonight.
B
C
B
Either
get
thrown
out
of
the
solar
system
through
a
close
gravitational
Encounter
of
the
planet,
they
fall
into
the
Sun
or
they
hit
a
planet
and,
of
course,
hitting
a
planet
is
what
we're
concerned
about.
But
the
the
problem
is
is
that,
after
about
10
million
years,
if
you
just
inject
a
bunch
of
Neos
into
the
inner
solar
system
after
about
10
million
years,
they'd
all
be
gone.
So
something
is
continuing
to
replenish
these,
and
we
think
that
the
reason
for
that
is
something
called
the
yarkovsky
effect,
and
this
animation
shows
what
happens.
B
An
asteroid
out
in
the
belt
is
getting
warmed
up.
That
warmth
is
re-radiated
and
acts
like
a
small
rocket
thrust
and,
depending
on
the
direction
that
the
asteroid
is
rotating,
it
can
cause
the
asteroid
to
move
inward
towards
the
inner
solar
system,
or
it
can
cause
it
to
move
outward
depending
on
which
way
it's
rotating.
So
the
yarkovsky
effect
is
one
of
these
things
that
takes
place
over
millions
and
millions
of
years.
B
But
with
this
very
small
radiative
thrust,
it's
occurring,
it
can
completely
change
orbits,
and
that
is
something
we
wanted
to
investigate
a
little
more
closely.
In
addition,
we
wanted
to
do
some
other
important
things
we
wanted
to
compare
bennu's,
that's
the
asteroid
we
went
to.
We
wanted
to
compare
its
Global
properties
with
our
ground-based
collection
of
asteroids,
which
are
meteorites.
B
We
wanted
to
look
at
the
global
properties
of
the
asteroid,
the
chemistry
and
mineralogy
to
understand
a
little
bit
more
about
how
then
informed-
and
we
wanted
to
understand
the
spectral
properties
of
the
at
the
sample
site,
because
we
wanted
to
get
really
good
context
for
our
sample.
We
wanted
to
be
able
to
say
when
we
brought
that
sample
back,
here's
everything
we
could
find
out
about
the
place
we
got
that
sample
from.
B
B
We
had
Orbits
for
about
7
000
of
those
were
near
Earth
asteroids,
and
we
wanted
to
go
to
a
near-earth
asteroid
because
they
come
to
you
and
you
don't
have
to
go
to
them,
and
that
means
that
has
a
lot
to
say
about
how
expensive
the
rocket
is
that
you're
going
to
send
your
spacecraft
out
on.
So
it's
much
easier
to
go
to
a
near
Earth
asteroid.
If
you
can
find
the
right
kind
and
there
were
about
192
of
those
that
had
optimal
Orbits
for
sample
return.
B
So
not
only
do
you
have
to
get
to
the
asteroid,
you
got
to
get
back
from
it,
and
you've
got
to
be
able
to
carry
enough
fuel
on
your
spacecraft
that
you
can
actually
have
a
trajectory.
That's
going
to
get
your
sample
back
to
the
Earth.
The
other
thing
that
was
important
to
us
is:
we
wanted
a
a
an
asteroid
with
a
diameter
over
200
meters,
because
most
smaller
asteroids
tend
to
spin
rapidly,
and
we
thought
that
we
probably
would
have
rapidly
spinning
asteroid.
B
It
might
have
well
have
thrown
off
any
sample
material
into
space
just
by
centripetal
force,
and
so
we
wanted
a
large
enough
asteroid
that
it
could
actually
hold
together
enough
and
have
some
loose
material
on
the
surface
that
we
could.
We
could
bring
back
and
we
wanted
it
to
be
one
of
these
carbon-rich
asteroids
one
of
these
carbonaceous
asteroids,
because
we
believed
those
were
representative
of
what
the
inner
solar
system
was
like
when
the
solar
system
was
formed.
B
So
we
chose
bennu
and
we
were
lucky
to
be
able
to
get
some
radar
imagery
on
on
the
spacecraft
using
the
Arecibo
telescope
in
Puerto
Rico.
You
know
rest
in
peace.
It
was
you
know
this
is
the
on.
The
data
on
the
left
is
the
kind
of
data
you
get
back
from
these
radar
observations
and
you
get
a
whole
series
of
these.
B
A
B
Actually,
quite
good
you're
going
to
see
you're
going
to
see
an
actual
image
of
bennu,
so
yeah
have
a
look
at
that.
You
see
that
there's
this
equatorial
sort
of
looks
like
a
walnut
and
there's
a
this
equatorial
material.
That
is
probably
migrated
from
the
poles
towards
the
equator
because
of
the
rotation
rate
of
bennu
and
the
fact
that
the
surfaces,
probably
not
very
cohesive
and
so
material
can
move
around
on
it.
B
There
was
a
discernible
seven
and
a
half
meter
feature
on
the
surface
and
the
data
that
we
could
get
from
radar
suggested
that
it
was
probably
loose
material
there
and
we
also
did
light
curves
with
conventional
photometry,
and
that
suggested
there
were
no
satellites
in
orbit
around
around
the
asteroid.
So
so
we
thought
that
the
Hazardous
that
it
probably
was
not
a
hazardous
environment
to
be
working
in,
so
we
put
together
a
series
of
instruments
that
flew
on
the
spacecraft.
B
The
most
important
one
is
the
camera,
see
a
suite,
and
that
was
built
here
at
the
University
of
Arizona.
We
had
a
a
zoom
lens,
we
had
a
wide
angle
lens
and
then
we
had
a
specialized
camera
to
image
the
sample
event,
and
these
were
all
built
here
and
were
you
know,
operated
through
an
internally
redundant
single
module
that
controls
all
those
cameras.
B
In
addition,
The
Goddard
space
flight
Center
built
oviers,
which
is
a
visible
and
near
infrared
spot
spectrometer,
which
was
good
from
about
0.4
microns
out
to
four
microns,
and
that
was
really
important
for
allowing
you
to
determine
mineralogies
and
compositions.
So
we
would
put
together
a
spectral
map
of
the
entire
asteroid
to
try
to
find
a
a
spot
that
was
interesting.
C
B
A
chemical
point
of
view:
the
university
Arizona
State
University
built
a
thermal
infrared
or
a
thermal
infrared
spectrometer
that
was
good
to
about
5.7
out
to
50
microns.
So
that's
very
much
thermal
and
what
you
can
do
is
you
can
actually
measure
the
way
heat
moves
through
the
surface
and
tell
something
about
the
the
cohesiveness
of
the
surface.
B
The
reason
it's
cool
is
because
all
those
little
sand
grains
are
touching
each
other
just
at
little
spots.
They're,
not
they're,
not
connected
to
one
another.
Pardon
me,
and
so
the
thermal
conductivity
between
grains
is
not
particularly
good,
so
you
can
actually
say
something
about
cohesiveness.
By
looking
at
the
thermal
data,
we
also
had
a
dual
laser
scanning
lidar
system
that
was
going
to
be
used
to
generate
a
topographic
map,
and
that
was
a
contribution
from
the
Canadian
space
agency.
B
B
You
know
from
the
standpoint
of
the
construction
that
you
know
it
was
I
was
actually
kind
of
shocked
to
see
how
sort
of
put
together
it
was.
You
know
it
just
you
know,
just
hang
a
bunch
of
instruments
on
the
side
of
these
panels
and
off
you
go
so
we
did
do
an
earth
gravity
assist
the
reason
we
needed
to
do
that
is
we
actually
need
to
change
the
plane
of
the
orbit.
B
It's
it's
pretty
low
energy
to
get
out
to
bennu,
but
bennu's
orbiting
in
a
different
plane,
and
so
you'll
see
right
here
that
by
going
by
the
Earth,
we
actually
changed
our
plane
into
the
plane
of
bennu
plane.
Changes
are
inclination.
Changes
rather
are
pretty
expensive
from
an
energy
point
of
view.
So
that's
why
you
want
to
be
able
to
do
an
earth
gravity
assist
to
get
that
to
get
that
assistant
So.
B
You
you,
it's
really
just
you're
just
out
there
flying
around
anywhere.
You
want
to
go
now
to
cut
the
sample
is
a
really
great
approach
to
doing
this.
We
didn't
want
to
have
a
lot
on
moving
parts,
and
so
we
have
this
thing
that
looks
like
a
air
filter
off
of
a
Pontiac
that
basically
is
attached
to
nitrogen
bonds
and
we're
going
to
touch
that
down
on
the
surface
of
venue.
So
here's
a
test.
B
B
B
In
theory,
we
should
be
able
to
to
capture
a
bunch
of
material
so
in
space
this.
This
is
where
the
way
it
would
look.
We
would
extend
the
this
out
on
the
arm
and
we
would
Orient
the
the
tag
head.
We
call
it
touch
and
go
head
and
then
slowly
maneuver
down
towards
the
surface,
where
we
would,
we
would
touch
it,
release
the
nitrogen
and
then
we
would
have
this
novel
system
of
how
we
would
weigh
it.
B
We
would
spin
the
spacecraft
before
we
went
down
to
the
surface
and
then
we
would
spin
the
spacecraft
after
we
got
the
sample
and
measure
the
change
in
the
amount
of
energy
required
to
spin
the
spacecraft,
and
we
could
weigh
the
sample
that
way.
So
we
could
get
an
idea
of
how
much
sample
we
had,
because
we
really
wanted
to
get
60
grams.
60
grams
would
give
us
about
25
grams
for
immediate
analysis
and
also
about
35
grams.
That
could
be
archived
for
future
investigators
using
techniques
that
we
know
nothing
about.
B
So,
just
very
quickly
the
navigation
challenges
around
an
asteroid
like
bennu
are
considerable
because
the
mass
is
so
low.
The
mass
of
venue
is
about
10
to
the
minus
14th,
that
of
the
earth
and
the
forces
that
the
spacecraft
feels
from
solar
radiation
pressure
is
about
the
same
as
it
feels
from
the
gravity
of
bennu
that
makes
all
of
our
orbital
Maneuvers
very
small.
Some
of
our
Delta
V's
were
only
one
centimeter
per
second
and
it's
very
hard
to
build
rockets
that
give
you
exactly
one
centimeter
per
second.
B
So
you
have
a
lot
of
maneuvering
uncertainty
that
you
have
to
be
careful
about,
and
you
have
other
sources
of
these.
What
are
we
called?
Non-Grab
accelerations
you've
got
solar
radiation
pressure.
You've
got
Albedo
from
the
space
from
the
asteroid,
the
asteroids
reflecting
heat,
and
that
is
hitting
the
spacecraft
and
that
is
actually
causing
your
spacecraft
to
move
around.
You've
got
outgassing
of
spacecraft
components.
B
B
A
B
A
B
When
you're
in
orbit
we're
basically
taking
opnav
images
transmitting
those
back
to
the
Earth
analyzing,
it
figuring
out
where
we're
at
and
then
making
navigation
adjustments,
but
during
The
Descent
to
the
surface,
the
spacecraft's
on
its
own,
because
we
had
on
the
order
of
six
minute
round
trip
light
times,
and
so
that's
just
too
long.
We
couldn't
we
couldn't.
You
know,
live
stick
that
spacecraft
down.
You
know
from
from
the
earth
we
had
to.
B
Basically,
you
know
train
the
spacecraft
to
figure
out
where
it
was
at
and
get
down
to
the
surface
Hall
on
its
own.
So
ultimately
we
would.
We
would
leave
no
sooner
than
March
of
2021
and
no
later
than
June
of
2021,
and
we
have
an
arrival
coming
up
on
September
24th
at
the
Utah
test
and
training
range
outside
of
Salt
Lake.
This
is
a
an
area
where
we've
landed
sample
return,
capsules
before
that's
just
a
big
empty
area.
B
It's
a
test
area,
and
so
it
will
come
in
at
about
seven
and
a
half
miles
per
second,
just
like
an
Apollo
capsule.
We
have
an
ablated
heat
shield
on
it,
and
so
it's
using
very
much
that
similar
kinds
of
technology
to
get
down
with
a
soft.
What
we
hope
is
a
soft
parachute
Landing
the
spacecraft
will
be
Rapid,
or
rather
the
sample
return.
Capsule
will
be
rapidly
gathered
up
and
flown
to
a
curation
facility
at
the
Johnson
Space
Center.
B
So
that's
the
same
place
that
manages
the
lunar
samples
and
then
they
have
about
six
months
to
inventory
the
contents
of
the
sample,
return,
capsule
and
then
we'll
take
requests
for
for
loans
of
material
to
any
qualified
institution
around
the
world
after
they've
got
that
inventory.
So
the
essentially
the
first
thing
they'll
do
is
build
a
card
catalog,
and
then
you
can
start
checking
out
samples,
so
that
was
kind
of
you
know
where
we're
at.
As
of
the
launch.
B
That
you
know,
and
what
it's
effectively
saying,
is
it's
really
really
important
to
make
all
your
plans,
but
you
don't
want
to
get
too
wedded
to
them
because
reality,
steps
in
and
change,
is
what
you
need
to
do.
Hopefully,
your
planning
process,
though,
has
prepared
you
for
that.
So
the
first
thing
we
discovered,
so
we
got
a
lot
of
surprises
on
the
mission.
The
first
thing
we
discovered
is
that
bennu
was
launching
rocks
at
us.
B
We
started
taking
these
some
of
these
images,
and
this
has
been
highly
stretched,
so
you
can
see
over
the
left
some
of
these
objects
that
are
getting
wafted
out
of
off
the
surface
and
in
some
cases
into
orbit
around
venu.
In
some
cases
they
were
just
flying.
You
know
a
ballistic
trajectory
and
landed
back
on
the
surface
at
first
we
didn't
know
what
was
going
on
now.
We
believe
that
this
was
probably
because
of
the
low
gravity
of
venue.
B
Of
course,
we
were
really
concerned
about
whether
this
was
going
to
be
a
problem
for
the
spacecraft,
but
after
looking
at
it
carefully
monitoring
where
these
things
were
doing,
we
found
that
the
the
Delta
V
between
our
spacecraft
and
these
objects
was
very
small,
and
so
we
probably
could
handle
a
collision
if
we
had
one,
but
even
then
the
likelihood
was
probably
going
to
be
low.
There
were
three
distinct
cycles
of
this
where
we
saw
this
happen,
but
there
you
go
there.
There
was
one
of
the
first
surprises
that
we
had.
B
The
other
thing
is
that
venue
was
rougher
than
we
expected.
The
only
other
asteroid
asteroid
that
we'd
been
to
that
mankind
had
been
to
before
this,
that
we
really
got
a
good
close
look
at
was
itakawa
during
the
first
Japanese
Hayabusa
mission,
and
this
is
a
picture
of
it.
It's
roughly
about
500
meters
along
the
long
axis.
B
It
had
some
smooth
areas,
probably
because
this
is
a
binary.
This
is
probably
a
binary
asteroid.
So
what
we're
probably
seeing
here
is
two
distinct
asteroids
that
are
just
touching
each
other
over
here
at
the
sort
of
the
two
thirds
to
the
right
and
probably
moving
around
a
little
bit
and
creating
some
fine
material
that
we're
seeing.
But
we
we
looked
at
that
and
said.
B
Well,
you
know
there
are
some
areas
there
that
are
pretty
good
size
that
we
think
maybe
that
lower,
that
that
this
area
right
down
here
around
the
bottom.
You
can
see
my
Mouse,
you
know
maybe
we'll
find
something
like
that
on
venue.
That's
about
a
50
meter,
radius
Circle.
So
we
kind
of
use
that,
as
a
defining
point
about
how
good
we
had
to
make
our
ability
to
land
the
spacecraft
we
could
put
it
down
in
a
15
meter,
radius,
Circle.
We
felt
like
that.
B
B
So
what
that
meant
is
we
needed
a
much
better
topographic
map
of
the
asteroid?
Now
this
is
a
representation
of
the
map
that
was
produced.
It's
actually
stunningly
beautiful.
If
you
appreciate
this
sort
of
thing,
you
can
actually
download
this
map
from
NASA.
It's
900
megabytes,
five
centimeters
per
pixel,
it's
the
highest
resolution,
topographic
map
made
of
another
body
ever
and
we
use
this
to
create
maps
that
we
would
load
into
the
memory
of
the
spacecraft.
B
It's
really
just
a
beautiful
piece
of
work,
so
this
is
an
image
actually
an
image.
This
is
a
an
animation
made
from
that
topographic
map.
So
this
is
not
imagery.
This
is
animation
from
that
imagery
of
ultimately
the
place
where
we
decided
to
go
and
get
a
sample.
This
is
called
Nightingale
crater,
it's
about
20,
meter
radius,
and
you
can
see
that
there
are
some
really
large
Boulders
around
there.
We
needed
to
be
able
to
put
down
right
in
the
center
of
this
thing,
and
you
know
so.
B
B
B
We
sunk
almost
a
half
a
meter
beneath
the
surface.
Before
we
halted
our
Forward
Motion
into
the
surface.
The
surface
is
incredibly
weak,
hardly
any
cohesion
at
all
and
what
I
mean
by
cohesion?
It's
you
know
what
forces
are
keeping
this
stuff
together.
You
know.
The
dust
bunnies
under
your
bed
are
basically
stuck
together
due
to
Van
Der
waals
forces
and
little
electrons
just
holding
everything
together.
Well,
that's
about
all
that's
holding
bennu
together
as
well
and
and
then
this
very
weak
gravity.
B
So
we
did
manage
to
get
a
nice
sample.
We
think.
But
of
course
there
was
another
surprise.
I
told
you
about
that
process
where
we
were
going
to
weigh
the
the
sample
head
by
spinning
the
spacecraft.
Well,
we
got
up
and
took
a
picture
of
the
sample
head
and
it
looked
like
that
plastic
flap
That
was
supposed
to
close,
didn't
close
and
we
were
starting
to
lose
sample,
and
so
the
last
thing
we
wanted
to
do
was
spin.
B
B
So
the
last
big
question
now
is
how
much
sample
did
we
get
the
you
know
you?
Can
you
can
find
out
a
lot
about
our
mission
from
a
special
issue
of
Science
magazine
that
came
out
in
November
of
2020,
which
will
tell
you
pretty
much
everything
we
learned
in
orbit
around
venue,
but
we
are
still
waiting
to
find
out
in
about
another
month
how
much
sample
we
got.
We
hope
that
we
got
at
least
60
grams.
B
We
think
some
people
have
suggested
we
got
about
a
kilogram
which
would
be
spectacular
if
we
got
that
much
and
also
I
referred
you
to
that
website,
where
you
can
take
a
tour
of
venu
from
that
high
resolution.
Topographic
map
data
and
that
link
is
just
at
the
top
of
the
page
there.
So
with
that
I
think
I've
probably
talked
myself
out
I
just
say
thanks
very
much
for
the
opportunity
to
tell
you
a
little
bit
about
the
mission
and
if
you
have
any
questions,
I'll
be
happy
to
take
them.
C
A
C
You
know
that
they
would
be
more
cohesive
than
that,
because
if
they're
supposed
I
don't
know
I
don't
know
if
this
is
true
or
not,
but
I
thought
you
know.
If
there's
water
in
these
things
it
would
freeze
and
then
it
would
kind
of
amalgamate
together
more
like
that.
Is
that
a
completely
wrong
idea?
No.
B
No,
no,
it's
not
a
bad
idea,
it's
probably
more
descriptive
of
a
comet
than
it
would
be
a
a
near-earth
asteroid.
You
know
the
thing
that
to
remember
is
this:
asteroid
has
been
coming
close
to
the
Earth
for
a
long
time,
so
it
gets
very
hot.
It's
probably
boiled
off
any
surface
water
that
might
have
occurred
early
on,
but
on
the
other
hand,
perhaps
deep
in
the
surface
I
mean
you
know.
B
A
collision
might
have
happened,
bennu
formed
the
yarkovsky
effect,
brought
it
into
the
inner
solar
system
and
made
it
a
near-earthogic
because
again
remember
as
a
near
Earth
object.
It
can
have
been
here
more
than
10
million
years.
It
would
have
hit
hit
the
earth
flown
into
the
Sun
or
actually
been
thrown
from
the
solar
system.
C
B
Made
it
all
myself
that
was
my
my
job
for
the
first
two
years,
I
was
just
I,
I
wrote
this
all,
and
now
it's
20
years
old,
it's
been
modified
a
lot
it's.
There
was
really
nothing
at
the
time
that
we
could
use.
I
mean
we
had
a
telescope
control
system.
Those
were
around,
but
you
know
even
or
even
orchestrating
the
image
taking
with
the
slewing
and
the
downloading.
We
needed
to
make
sure
that
we
kept
the
shutter
open
as
much
as
possible.
B
So
we
wouldn't
just
take
an
image
download.
It
then
SLU.
We
wanted
to
be
slewing,
while
we
were
downloading
just
to
make
sure
that
we
were
as
efficient
as
possible.
So
that
was
all
custom,
and
today
you
probably
could
do
it
with
some
commercial
products
or
at
least
partially.
But
you
know
the
image,
processing,
pipelines
and
so
forth
were
all
built
by
by
us.
C
A
Are
there
other
questions
for
ED?
Well,
Ed
I
have
a
question
when
you
did
your
touch
and
go
like
at
what
speed
was
the
spacecraft
approaching
and
then
a
related
question?
Is
you
know
all
those
tons
of
material
that
you
blew
off?
Was
that
blown
off
you
know
by
the
nitrogen
or
by
the
propulsion,
trying
to
get
off
the
surface
or
what
it.
B
Was
it
was
really
the
nitrogen
we
got?
We,
you
know
we
went
about
a
half
meter
deep
and
then
blew
the
nitrogen,
so
it
really
just
it.
It
blew
everything
away
and
it
actually
created
quite
a
crater
afterwards.
In
fact,
we
made
the
decision
to
go
back
and
take
a
look
at
the
crater
just
to
see
what
we
had
done,
because
we
thought
that
would
tell
us
a
lot
about
the
cohesiveness
of
the
of
the
asteroid.
B
B
A
B
B
B
We
thought
we
would
be
able
to
do
it
with
lidar,
but
we
just
we
didn't.
Actually
there
were
several
issues
that
made
it
difficult
with
the
Canadian
lidar
that
we
had
turned
out
to
be
an
invaluable
instrument
in
itself,
but
to
actually
use
it
for
the
the
touch
and
go
it
was
not
gonna.
It
wasn't
going
to
be
accurate
enough.
All.
A
Right
very
cool:
are
there
other
questions
and
in
the
audience?
Well,
I
guess
we
have
we're
all
done
all
right.
So
thank
you
so
much
Ed
for
this
amazing
talk
and
we're
looking
forward
to
hearing
hearing
more
about
what
happens
all
right.
Yeah.
Let
me
just
ask
you
one
last
thing:
I
just
so
hard
to
believe
that
it
sits
there
and
no,
maybe
I
misunderstood,
like
no
real
news
for
six
months
and
then
then
pis
will
write
proposals
for.