Initially launched in 2016, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft started on a mission to locate the asteroid Bennu and collect samples. Completing this mission, it delivered 8.8 ounces (250 grams) of asteroid material to Earth in September 2023. While NASA analyzes these samples and compiles a catalog, the spacecraft remains in Earth’s orbit.
With its hardware still operational, NASA has repurposed it for a new mission. Now renamed OSIRIS-APEX, the spacecraft will survey the asteroid Apophis without returning samples. Scheduled to reach Apophis by the end of the decade, OSIRIS-APEX will go around several hazards, including a close encounter with the Sun.
Notably, its camera, which mapped Bennu and showed a 70% reduction in hot pixels, will now map Apophis. Surviving the Sun’s proximity involved clever engineering and orientation strategies to shield sensitive components. OSIRIS will endure numerous close perihelion passes every nine months until it meets Apophis in 2029.
Discovered in 2004, the 1,100-foot (335-meter) asteroid Apophis was initially considered a hazard to Earth, but recent calculations show no significant threat for at least the next century. In 2029, Apophis will pass within 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of Earth’s surface, close but not dangerous.