OSIRIS-REx Interview Clips

Interview from December, 2014 at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center studio.

0:00 - Dante Lauretta Intro

0:07 - What is OSIRIS-REx?

0:23 - Why is OSIRIS-REx exciting?

0:51 - Why are asteroids considered "time capsules"?

1:49 - Why sample an asteroid instead of studying meteorites?

2:51 - Why was Bennu chosen as the target asteroid?

4:01 - What is the timeline of the OSIRIS-REx mission?

4:20 - How will OSIRIS-REx navigate in the low gravity of Bennu?

5:10 - What will OSIRIS-REx do while it's at Bennu?

6:24 - How will OSIRIS-REx select a sample site?

7:32 - How does OSIRIS-REx and TAGSAM incorporate what you've learned from past missions?

8:49 - What will happen to the sample once it's back on Earth?

9:26 - How will scientists be able to study the returned sample?

Interview from January, 2015 at the Goddard Space Flight Center Astrobiology Lab

0:00 - Jason Dworkin Intro

0:14 - What is the role of a project scientist?

0:53 - What will you learn by returning a sample from asteroid Bennu?

1:07 - How is Bennu a "time capsule"?

1:53 - Why was Bennu chosen as the target asteroid for OSIRIS-REx?

2:49 - Why look at an asteroid sample instead of meteorites?

3:48 - Why return a sample from Bennu instead of just studying it in situ?

5:03 - What does the future hold for the returned asteroid sample?

5:39 - Who will get to study the returned asteroid sample?

6:05 - How does this compare to the Apollo moon samples?

6:24 - What science will we learn from the Bennu sample?

7:21 - How does organic chemistry help us understand the origin of life?

8:31 - What does the Astrobiology Laboratory at NASA Goddard study?

8:52 - Room Tone

Interview from March, 2016 at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center studio

0:00 - Tim Haltigin Intro

0:20 - Why are asteroids important to planetary science?

0:54 - Analogy: Earth is like a cake and asteroids are like the mixing bowl

1:37 - What is OSIRIS-REx?

1:51 - What is OLA?

2:09 - What past instruments has the Canadian Space Agency contributed to NASA missions?

2:28 - Why did Canada contribute OLA to OSIRIS-REx?

2:58 - How does OLA use LIDAR?

3:43 - Why does OLA have two lasers?

4:29 - When will the OLA instrument turn on?

5:01 - What will be the resolution of OLA's map of Bennu?

5:35 - Why is it important to understand the shape of asteroid Bennu?

6:22 - What are the challenges in building an instrument for spaceflight?

7:07 - Why is it important to test your instrument?

8:08 - Why is a thermal vacuum test particularly important for OLA?

8:46 - How will OLA's shape model of Bennu compare to what we already know?

9:08 - Why is OSIRIS-REx exciting for you personally?