NASA'S OSIRIX-REx Phones Home, Aces System Checks 3 Weeks After Launch

NASA's asteroid mapping mission spacecraft OSIRIS-REx phoned home to let the Earth-borne base know that it is working perfectly well.

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida earlier this month. The spacecraft is bound to asteroid Bennu to perform a comprehensive surface mapping and to collect samples from the space rock to bring back to Earth.

Engineers powered the science instruments aboard the spacecraft as the OSIRIS-REx traverse the space between Earth and asteroid Bennu for a scheduled rendezvous by 2018. The spacecraft successfully passed the instruments tests "with flying colors."  

Since Sept. 19, controllers and engineers of OSIRIS-REx have done a series of operated checks and switched on five scientific instruments and one navigational system aboard the spacecraft, according to NASA. Engineers received a reply from OSIRIS-REx indicating that the spacecraft and its science instruments on board are all in top shape.

"We have completely checked out our spacecraft and all of our science instruments, and everything is working perfectly," Dante Lauretta, University of Arizona's mission lead said in a statement. 

The testing was done with the help of OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS) from the University of Arizona. The OCAMS was activated and aced the testing by recording the spacecraft's point-of-view capturing a fascinating view of a star field in Taurus near the northern part of the constellation Orion, including Orion's bright red star Betelgeuse. Meanwhile, Canadian Space Agency's OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) also aced its systems check and was able to fire a laser.

It's official - my systems are happy AND healthy: https://t.co/uvFXott3Gk

And check out what I'm seeing out here! pic.twitter.com/mVtmN27blz

— OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) September 26, 2016

Also part of the system check are the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's OVIRS and Arizona State University's OSIRIS-REz Thermal Emissions Spectrometer (OTES), both are also functional perfectly well according to engineers.

The last of the scientific equipment onboard to be tested are the regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) from MIT and the Touch and Go Camera System (TAGCAMS) navigational camera and are also both operational as expected. The TAGCAMS even captured an image of the Sample Return Capsule where the materials collected from asteroid Bennu will be placed for the journey back to Earth.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is expected to return to Earth with asteroid samples in 2023.