ovirs

Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center has delivered an instrument to Lockheed Martin for the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) spacecraft.

The OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS) is designed to measure visible and near infrared light from Bennu.

Findings by the Goddard-built instrument will help identify the presence of water and organic materials.

The instrument will split the light from the asteroid Bennu into component wavelengths over a broader range.

It will come online shortly after launch with first science data planned during the Earth gravity assist in September 2017.

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center OSIRIS-REx project manager Mike Donnelly said: "The OVIRS team has met all of their technical requirements.

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"This is another step in completing the spacecraft and sending it on its way to rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu."

"OSIRIS-Rex is designed to bring samples of the Bennu asteroid to Earth."

Said to be the first US mission, OSIRIS-Rex is designed to bring samples of the Bennu asteroid to Earth.

The samples will help scientists study the composition of material from the earliest part of the solar system’s history. It will also provide information about the source of organic materials and water on Earth.

Planned for launch in September 2016, the spacecraft is expected to reach Bennu in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023.

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center is responsible for OSIRIS-REx’s mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance activities.

Lockheed Martin is building the spacecraft at its facility near Denver in the US.

Last month, Lockheed Martin received the OSIRIS-Rex Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) for installation onto the spacecraft.

Image: OVIRS is designed to measure visible and near infrared light from Bennu. Photo: courtesy of Nasa Goddard / Bill Hrybyk.