The NASA's spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, has a groundbreaking mission to reach the Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid. Its task is to capture some asteroid samples to bring it back to Earth and it was a success. NASA officials said that spacecraft has passed the first instrument check successfully as it flies toward its mission to Bennu in 2018.
OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite's (OCAMS), which acts as the eyes of the spacecraft, came from the University of Arizona. It has recently taken its "first-light" that shows an image of the Taurus constellation.
OCAMS has three cameras: the MapCam (Mapping Camera), which task is to map the entire surface of Bennu three miles away from the asteroid; the SamCam (Sampling Camera), which is tasked to continuously document the final trip of the spacecraft on the asteroid's surface and the sampling sequence; and the PolyCam, which will provide high-resolution map and images of the asteroid, according to the researchers from the University of Arizona, Nature World News reported.
The "first-light" was taken by MapCam on Sept. 19, 2016. "MapCam's first color image is a composite of three of its four color filters, roughly corresponding to blue, green, and red wavelengths. The three images are processed to remove noise, co-registered and enhanced to emphasize dimmer stars," researchers said, as reported by University Today.
The OSIRIS-REx is also equipped with a Laser Altimeter (OLA), Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS), Thermal Emissions Spectrometer (OTES) and Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS). The spacecraft's Touch and Go Camera System (TAGCAMS), a navigational camera, was successfully powered and tested along with the first four instruments.
On the other hand, OSIRIS-REx's TAGCAMS has taken an image of the spacecraft's Sample Return Capsule. The capsule is designed to bring at least 2.1-ounce sample of the Bennu's surface rocks and soil back to Earth in 2023.
