NASA: OSIRIS-REx
Posted: December 14th, 2011 | Author: M.Aaron Silverman | Filed under: NASA | Tags: Comet Wi, European Space Agency, NASA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, Nasa Stardust, or OSIRIS-REx, Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer, Space Exploration | No Comments »
In 2016 NASA will launch its Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, on a mission to collect samples from an asteroid using a robotic arm.
NASA is developing a high-tech harpoon that could one day pierce a comet and grab samples for scientists on Earth to study for hints about how the universe formed. The idea borrows on a concept developed by the European Space Agency but adds a sample chamber to the spear so it can capture dust from a fast-moving, ice-spewing comet by hovering near it and launching the space harpoon.
