NASA’s OSIRIS spacecraft survives the curse of the sun, Asteroid Apophis is still far away

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SPACE — Since last December, NASA’s space probe, OSIRIS-APEX has been on pause for two months as it passes 40.2 million kilometers closer to the sun. In fact, the spacecraft was not designed to be that close.

OSIRIS is on its way to a space rock called Apophis, an asteroid that has the potential to bring doom to Earth. It will be at its closest point to the sun on January 2, 2024.

It was the first of seven approaches with the sun (perihelion) that OSIRIS must undergo, before reaching its target asteroid in 2029. For the past two months, the probe was tucked into one of two solar panels to protect its most sensitive instruments, something that limits its ability to communicate with mission control on Earth.

But NASA has now received enough information from the probe that it appears to be functioning well again. “Since early December 2023, engineers have had limited information regarding the status of the spacecraft as it is configured for safety,” NASA said in a statement, Tuesday, February 20, 2024.

Also Read: OSIRIS-APEX, New Mission to Asteroid Apophis, an Asteroid that has the Potential to Hit Earth

Incoming preliminary data shows OSIRIS-APEX is performing as expected. But it will take several months for the mission team to conduct a full assessment of the aircraft’s performance.

After perihelion 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 the OSIRIS instrument.

“The spacecraft then replaced its position with solar panels to their original place to generate electricity again,” NASA said.

The important thing that is not known at this time is whether the hot sun has damaged the surface or components of the vehicle. If that happens, it will hamper the aircraft’s performance.

Previously, computer simulations in preparation for such a perihelion showed customized solar panels would keep OSIRIS from overheating. “But any time you take spaceflight hardware beyond the design criteria, you run risks,” the mission’s principal investigator, Dani Mendoza DellaGiustina, said at the time.

APOPHIS in DATA:

• – Wide : 340 meters
  – Period orbit : 324 days
  – Massa                     : 26.99 billion kg
  – Found: June 19, 2004
  – Asteroid group: Asteroid Aten
  – Type of spectrum : S-type asteroids (rocky)
  – Inventor: David J Tholen, Roy A Tucker, Fabrizio Bernardi
• – Across the Earth : April 13, 2029 at a distance of 31,860 km

If all OSIRIS instruments are still fine, it will perform its second perihelion on September 1, 2024. At that time, the sun is thought to have entered solar maximum, the 11-year cycle of peak activity for our star.

Also read: Earth on alert, the sun has exploded 3 times class X flares ahead of solar maximum 2024

So, if OSIRIS still survives when it approaches the sun which is ‘very angry’, then Apophis can still be achieved. However, he also still has five perihelions left to reach it.

Dari Bennu ke Apophis

The OSIRIS probe was originally designed to take samples of the asteroid Bennu with a mission called OSIRIS-REx. The mission was successful and the samples it derived are still being studied by scientists.

Because the plane still had fuel left for a long-term mission, NASA decided to fly it on a one-way trip to Apophis. Because of this, the name became OSIRIS-APEX.