Speaker's Night: Near-Earth Asteroid Bennu and the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Mission

Dr. Amy Shaw, York University

Near-Earth Asteroid Bennu and the OSIRIS-REx Sample

Return Mission

This talk will focus on the OSIRIS-REx mission and its target, the near-earth potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu. The mission will launch in 2016, spend two years en route to Bennu, and then spend over a year studying the asteroid and choosing a spot from which to grab powdery asteroid surface material, which it will then bring back to Earth.   Various components of the spacecraft, including science instruments, are now undergoing design and construction.  Canada is providing the laser altimeter for the mission; this laser ranging instrument will be used to map asteroid reflectivity as well as asteroid shape.  The talk will cover some key points about the mission and its objectives, the mission target asteroid, and the OSIRIS-REx suite of science instruments.

Who can attend: everyone including non-members
Fee: free, free parking after 6pm
Reservation not needed 
Location: Ontario Science Centre (Imperial Oil Auditorium)