At 7:05 pm (EDT), Thursday, Sept. 8, NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu. Among that spacecraft's five instruments is a student experiment that will use X-rays to help determine Bennu's surface composition.
The Regolith X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer, or REXIS, was developed by researchers and students at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both in Cambridge, Mass. It is only the second student experiment to fly on a NASA interplanetary mission.
"With Harvard undergraduates, we designed a wide-field X-ray imaging instrument that was built by students at MIT," says Harvard astronomer and Deputy Instrument Scientist Josh Grindlay. Richard Binzel at MIT is Instrument Scientist for REXIS.
"A principal goal for REXIS was educating students," says instrument scientist and Harvard astronomer Jaesub Hong.
The mission, called the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx), will be launched with an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral, Florida. After its two-year journey to Bennu, the spacecraft will spend nearly two years making observations and measurements before collecting a surface sample and returning it to Earth.
REXIS will help the mission team select the sample site by characterizing the asteroid"s surface. Bennu emits X-rays through a process known as fluorescence, in which X-rays from the Sun make atoms on the asteroid"s surface glow at specific energies, depending on which chemical elements are present.
"REXIS can image enhanced patches of glowing elements like magnesium, silicon, or iron that are typical in chondrite-type asteroids," says instrument scientist Branden Allen.
The asteroid Bennu is about 1,600 feet across, about twice the height of Boston's John Hancock Tower. REXIS will be able to resolve details about 18 feet across.
Like many asteroids, Bennu represents a relic from the solar system's formation. It formed as bits of primitive material stuck together over time. As a result, it can tell scientists about the history of our solar system. Asteroids like Bennu may have delivered water, carbon, and other substances crucial to life to the early Earth.
REXIS is a $5 million project that involved nearly 50 undergraduate students from MIT and Harvard.
The OSIRIS-REx mission is being led by the University of Arizona under principal investigator Dante Lauretta. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland is managing the mission.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA scientists, organized into six research divisions, study the origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the universe.
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Mnamo Septemba 8, NASA imepanga kutuma chombo cha angani kwa asteroid inayoitwa Bennu. Miongoni mwa vyombo vitano vya chombo hicho cha angani kuna jaribio la wanafunzi ambalo litatumia miale ya X kusaidia kuamua muundo wa uso wa Bennu. X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer (RXIS) ni kifaa cha uchunguzi wa X-ray kilichotengenezwa na watafiti wa Chuo Kikuu cha Harvard-Smithsonian na Taasisi ya Teknolojia ya Massachusetts (MIT) huko Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ni jaribio la pili tu la mwanafunzi kuruka kwenye misheni ya NASA ya kati ya sayari. "Kwa kushirikiana na wanafunzi wa chuo kikuu cha Harvard, tulibuni kifaa cha kupima picha za X-ray cha uwanja mpana ambacho kilijengwa na wanafunzi wa MIT,"" anasema Josh Grindley, mtaalamu wa nyota na msaidizi wa mwanasayansi wa vyombo wa Harvard." Richard Binzel katika MIT ni Mtaalamu wa Kifaa kwa REXIS. "Lengo kuu la REXIS lilikuwa kuwaelimisha wanafunzi", asema Jaesub Hong, mwanasayansi wa vifaa na mtaalamu wa nyota wa Harvard. "Mission hiyo, inayoitwa ""Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regulate Explorer"" (OSIRIS-REx) itaanza safari ya ndege ya Atlas V kutoka Cape Canaveral, Florida." Baada ya safari yake ya miaka miwili kwenda Bennu, chombo hicho kitatumia miaka miwili karibu kufanya uchunguzi na vipimo kabla ya kukusanya sampuli ya uso na kuirudisha duniani. REXIS itasaidia timu ya misheni kuchagua tovuti ya sampuli kwa kuelezea uso wa asteroid. Bennu hutoa mnururisho wa X-ray kupitia mchakato unaojulikana kama fluorescence, ambapo mnururisho wa X-ray kutoka kwa Jua hufanya atomu kwenye uso wa asteroid hiyo kung'aa kwa nishati maalum, kulingana na elementi za kemikali zilizopo. "REXIS inaweza kupiga picha ya sehemu zenye kung'aa kama vile magnesiamu, silicon, au chuma ambazo ni za kawaida katika asteroidi za aina ya chondrite", asema mwanasayansi wa chombo hicho Branden Allen. Asteroid ya Bennu ina urefu wa mita 1,600, karibu mara mbili ya urefu wa mnara wa John Hancock huko Boston. REXIS itaweza kutatua maelezo ya mita 18 kwa upana. Kama asteroidi nyingi, Bennu ni mabaki ya kuanzishwa kwa mfumo wa jua. Ilitokana na vipande vya vitu vya awali vilivyounganishwa pamoja kwa muda. Kwa hiyo, inaweza kuwaeleza wanasayansi historia ya mfumo wetu wa jua. Huenda sayari ndogo kama Bennu zilitoa maji, kaboni, na vitu vingine muhimu kwa uhai kwenye Dunia ya mapema. REXIS ni mradi wa dola milioni 5 ambao umehusisha wanafunzi wa shahada ya kwanza karibu 50 kutoka MIT na Harvard. Ujumbe wa OSIRIS-REx unaongozwa na Chuo Kikuu cha Arizona chini ya mtafiti mkuu Dante Lauretta. Kituo cha Ndege za Anga cha Goddard cha NASA huko Greenbelt, Maryland kinasimamia utume huo. Kituo cha Harvard-Smithsonian cha Astrophysics (CFA) ni kituo cha utafiti wa nyota cha Harvard na Kituo cha Astrophysics cha Smithsonian. Wanasayansi wa CfA, waliopangwa katika idara sita za utafiti, hujifunza asili, mageuzi na hatima ya ulimwengu. Kwa habari zaidi, mawasiliano: Media Relations Manager Harvard-Smithsonian Center kwa Astrophysics