Asteroid Bennu: Selecting Site Nightingale

OSIRIS-REx is a NASA mission to explore near-Earth asteroid Bennu and return a sample to Earth. Prior to arriving at Bennu, mission planners had expected the asteroid's surface to consist largely of fine-grained material, like a sandy beach. When OSIRIS-REx arrived in December 2018, however, it was greeted by a rocky world covered with boulders.
This unexpected roughness means that there are few places on Bennu where OSIRIS-REx can safely touch down and collect a sample. After a year of studying the asteroid, the mission announced a primary sample collection site, which they designated "Nightingale," along with a backup site called "Osprey." In August 2020, OSIRIS-REx will descend to Nightingale and attempt to collect up to four-and-a-half pounds of loose material, for return to Earth in 2023.
Universal Production Music: "Extreme Measures" by John Sands and Marc Ferrari, "Ice Echoes" by Dominik Luke Marsden Johnson, "Look at the Mirror" by Jonathan Figoli
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Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Data provided by NASA/University of Arizona/CSA/York University/MDA.
Dan Gallagher (USRA):
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Kel Elkins (USRA):
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Swarupa Nune (InuTeq):
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Walt Feimer (KBRwyle):
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Michael Lentz (USRA):
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Josh Masters (Freelance):
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Lisa Poje (Freelance):
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Erin Morton (University of Arizona):
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Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET):
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