OSIRIS Apex Recently Took A "Slingshotter's Glide" Past Earth, Again -- Now Headed Out...

She's headed out to Apophis, now (arriving 2029). . . smile.

Here's all the latest, on the extended mission, now from NASA:

. . .At 1:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 23, NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Apophis Explorer) spacecraft flew within 2,136 miles (3,438 kilometers) of Earth.

During approach and as OSIRIS-APEX passed Earth, it looked home, capturing images and data of our home planet to help calibrate its science instruments. . . .

During the spacecraft’s primary mission, the StowCam instrument was used to verify the capsule full of sample from asteroid Bennu was safely stowed and prepared to journey back to Earth. Now, StowCam provides a view of the instrument panel, including the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter, provided by the CSA (Canadian Space Agency) to create detailed 3D topographical maps of Bennu. . . .

Now you know. Onward with lots of airport pickups in the next day and a half. . . smile.

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