Prelims Perspective: What needs to be learned?

• OSIRIS-REx Mission
• Bennu
• Asteroid

Mains Perspective: Notes need to be prepared

• Space Technology  (GS III –Science and Technology)

What needs to be known?

• OSIRIS-REx Mission
  • Fullform: Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer.
  • What is it?: It is a space mission launched by NASA with the aim to collect a sample from asteroid Bennu and returning it to Earth for study.
  • Facts
    • The spacecraft is now on an extended mission (OSIRIS-APEX) to study asteroid Apophis.
    • It is the first U.S. spacecraft to collect a sample from an asteroid.
• Asteroid
  • Asteroids are small, rocky bodies orbiting the Sun, primarily found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
  • They are remnants from the early solar system, ranging from dust-sized particles to objects hundreds of kilometers across, like dwarf planet Ceres.

Source: The Hindu