Asteroid approach, Science operations begin! |
Asteroid approach, Science operations begin! |
Aug 24 2018, 06:48 PM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 544 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Oklahoma Member No.: 557 |
NASA update on the OSIRIS-REx mission, includes first picture of the asteroid from the spacecraft.
Begins Operations |
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Nov 30 2018, 07:08 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 214 Joined: 30-December 05 Member No.: 628 |
That's a nice side-by side comparison of the three bodies, and it is consistent with the unexpectedly rocky surface of Ryuku and likely Bennu too.
Isn't that how panning for gold works? If you put heterogeneous gravel in a pan and agitate it, the smaller particles will settle to the bottom and the larger chunks will "float" to the top, even if they are intrinsically denser, because their irregular shapes prevent them from packing together as tightly. So in a rubble pile asteroid, the finer material will tend to migrate to the center. Itokawa probably had a bit more structural rigidity than the other two, at least enough to prevent this sorting process from proceeding quite so far. The similar slightly oblate shapes of Ryugu and Bennu seem to reflect a balance between centrifugal force and their minimal gravity which may prove to be the norm for very loosely accreted piles of variously-sized junk. If so, it may well complicate the sample collection process as Holder suggests. |
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