Engineering topics

Dante Lauretta

Publications and source records attributed to Dante Lauretta.

3 records

NASA NTRS2021

OSIRIS-REx Proximity Operations and Navigation Performanceat (101955) Bennu

The NASA Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft began close proximity operations at the small (500-m diameter) B-type asteroid (101955) Bennu in December 2018 and concluded in May 2021. Hundreds of grams of pristine surface regolith were collected on October 20, 2020, when the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully executed the Touch and Go (TAG) sample collection sequence. The spacecraft touched down within 1 meter of the targeted site on the surface of Bennu. TAG was the culmination of over 2 years of navigation performance refinement as a result of extraordinary interagency teamwork between the Flight Dynamics System (FDS), science and spacecraft teams while in close proximity to Bennu. This paper will discuss the navigation processes, planning and performance during the proximity operations at Bennu.

Peter G. Antreasian↗

NASA NTRS2020

Visible - Near Infrared Spectral Indices for Mapping Mineralogy and Chemistry with OSIRIS-REx

The primary objective of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, SecurityRegolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission is to return to Earth a pristine sample of carbonaceous material from the primitive asteroid (101955) Bennu. To support compositional mapping as part of sample site selection and characterization, we tested 95 spectral parameters on visible to near infrared laboratory reflectance data of minerals and carbonaceous meteorites to find which of these parameters reliably identified spectral features of interest. Most spectral parameters had high positive detection rates when used on spectra of pure, single component materials. The meteorite spectra have fewer and weaker absorption features and, as a result, fewer detections with the spectral parameters. Parameters targeting absorptions at 0.7 and 2.7 – 3 µm, which arise due to hydrated minerals, were most successful for the meteorites. Based on these results, we have identified a set of 17 parameters that are most likely to be useful at Bennu and spectral analogs. These parameters detect olivines, pyroxenes, carbonates, water/OH-bearing minerals, serpentines, ferric minerals, and organics. Particle size and albedo are known to affect band depth but had a negligible impact on parameter accuracy. The effect of instrument-like noise added to the laboratory spectra can result in more false positive detections, but these exhibit large errors. Our study has determined the prioritization of spectral parameters used for OSIRISREx spectral analysis and mapping and informs the reliability of all parameter-derived data products.

Hannah H Kaplan↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

OSIRIS-REx Proximity Operations and Navigation Performance at (101955) Bennu

The NASA Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft began close proximity operations at the small (500-mdiameter) B-type asteroid (101955) Bennu in December 2018 and concluded in May 2021.Hundreds of grams of pristine surface regolith were collected on October 20, 2020, when the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully executed the Touch and Go (TAG) sample collection sequence. The spacecraft touched down within 1 meter of the targeted site on the surface of Bennu. TAG was the culmination of over 2 years of navigation performance refinement as a result of extraordinary interagency teamwork between the Flight Dynamics System (FDS),science and spacecraft teams while in close proximity to Bennu. This paper will discuss the navigation processes, planning and performance during the proximity operations at Bennu.

Peter G Antresian↗