OSIRIS REx.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — OSIRIS-APEX is back online. Since last December, the space probe NASA has undergone a two-month hiatus as it hurtled 40.2 million kilometers closer to the sun than it was designed to operate on its way to a space rock called Apophis.
Reported Space, Wednesday (28/2/2024), the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft was at its closest point to the sun on January 2, the first of seven approaches (or perihelions) in its calendar before it could reach asteroid the target is 2029.
For the past two months, the spacecraft has been tucked into one of two solar panels to protect its most sensitive instruments. It was an attempt to limit his powers and ability to communicate back to Earth.
But NASA has now received enough information from the probe to determine that it appears to be functioning properly.
“Since early December 2023, engineers have limited information regarding the status of the spacecraft because the spacecraft is configured for safety,” NASA said in a statement, Tuesday (20/2/2024).
Incoming preliminary data shows that the spacecraft is “performing as expected,” the space agency said in the same statement. But “it will take several months for the mission team to conduct a full assessment of the spacecraft’s performance.”
After perhelion on January 2, the probe’s orbit slowly moved away from the sun. Earlier this month it reached 96 million km, which is considered far enough for the sun not to fry its instruments. The spacecraft then repositioned its solar panels into place to generate electricity again, NASA said.
The important thing that is not known at this time is whether the hot sun will damage the surface or components of the vehicle, which could later hinder its performance. Computer simulations conducted in preparation for perihelion suggest that customized solar panels will keep the probe from overheating, “but any time you take spaceflight hardware beyond the design criteria, you run the risk,” Dani Mendoza DellaGiustina , the mission’s principal investigator, he said at the time.
The second of seven perihelions is scheduled for…
2024-02-28 08:25:51
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