Nasa scientists learn more about asteroid Bennu’s future orbit

In a study released this week, researchers at Nasa used precision-tracking data from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to better understand movements of the potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu through the year 2300. “NASA’s Planetary Defense mission is to find and monitor asteroids and comets that can come near Earth and may pose a hazard to our planet,” said Kelly Fast, program manager for the Near-Earth Object Observations Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The OSIRIS-REx mission has provided an extraordinary opportunity to refine and test these models, helping us better predict where Bennu will be when it makes its close approach to Earth more than a century from now.” This undated image made available by NASA shows the asteroid Bennu from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Kelly Fast, program manager for the Near-Earth Object Observations Program at NASA in Washington, explains in the release that the agency’s planetary defense mission is to find, monitor comets and asteroids that can come near Earth and may pose a hazard. Continuing astronomical surveys are used to collect data and discover previously unknown objects and refine orbital models for Nasa, Fast explains: “The OSIRIS-REx mission has provided an extraordinary opportunity to refine and test these models, helping us better predict where Bennu will be when it makes its close approach to Earth more than a century from now.” Scientists used NASA’s Deep Space Network, a global network of spacecraft communication ground segment facilities, and state-of-the-art computer models to significantly shrink uncertainties in Bennu’s orbit.