This isn\u2019t the first time a spacecraft has used a gravity assist manoeuvre \u2013 far from it \u2013 the first was the Mariner 10, a US space probe launched in 1973. But what makes this unique is just how close the OSIRIS-REx is going to be to the Earth when it does its flyby \u2013 a minimum distance of 17,000km, about 22 times closer than the moon \u2013 with Australia being awarded one of the closest views.<\/p>\n
The apparent pathway of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft over Australian skies will take an hour, beginning over Rockhampton at 00.22am local time and exiting over Adelaide at 00.53am local time on 23 September (click to view interactive map) (credit: Desert Fireball Network).<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe purpose of the slingshot is change the spacecraft\u2019s trajectory and velocity in the most efficient way possible,\u201d explains Curtin Professor Phil Bland, team leader of the Desert Fireball Network and a member of the OSIRIS-REx science team.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you use the Earth, you don\u2019t have to use as much fuel to get to the asteroid and saving that extra mass will allow you to put on more scientific instruments.\u201d<\/p>\n The Desert Fireball Network is a series of 52 autonomous stations across the continent, designed to track meteorites as they enter the atmosphere and pinpoint their fall positions, but the system will be ideal for tracking the spacecraft as it hurtles over the country.<\/p>\n The team has three separate goals for tracking the spacecraft: providing a baseline so NASA can compare its telemetry from the spacecraft with the team\u2019s ground observations, testing the team\u2019s equipment and orbital analysis calculations, and engaging Australian astronomers and the broader community.<\/p>\n The members of the Desert Fireball Network, who have become minor <\/em>internet celebrities<\/em><\/a> and made <\/em>headlines<\/em><\/a> in their success at <\/em>recovering meteorites<\/em><\/a> in the remote Outback, are working with NASA to track the spacecraft as it hurtles over the Australian mainland.<\/em> Pictured here is team leader Professor Phil Bland (credit: Desert Fireball Network).<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re flying out about eight to nine groups of designated scientists,\u201d says Trent Jansen-Sturgeon, a Curtin PhD candidate responsible for the data analysis of OSIRIS-REx, who goes on to explain that each team will have a high-end DSLR camera with custom-built geotagging equipment to create a 3D map of the spacecraft\u2019s flight path.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be stationed around Australia so we can get more accurate triangulations and determine more precise orbits of the spacecraft.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the OSIRIS-REx has left the Earth\u2019s gravitational pull and approaches Bennu, it will use a series of final rocket thrusting and braking manoeuvres to match the asteroid\u2019s velocity. After a year of surveying, the spacecraft will then move into position to collect a sample of the asteroid and begin the long voyage back home, scheduled for arrival in 2023.<\/p>\n As part of the OSISIR-REx science team, Bland and his group of planetary scientists will be amongst the first researchers in the world to analyse this unique material, which is expected to reveal insights into the early history of the solar system and molecular precursors to the origin of life.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks like an asteroid that very little has happened to since it came together. It\u2019s probably got water and clay minerals on it, and all of that means we can see further back in time then if we were looking at an igneous rock,\u201d says Bland.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully when it\u2019s recovered, it won\u2019t be contaminated, which means it’ll be the most pristine rock that’s ever arrived at the Earth’s surface.\u201d<\/p>\n Members of the Desert Fireball Network (left to right): Ben Hartig, Morgan Cox holding a scale model of Bennu, Renae Sayers, Trent Jansen-Sturgeon, team leader Professor Phil Bland, Hadrien Devillepoix, Martin Towner and Ellie Sansom with a cut-out of OSIRIS-REx.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Map](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/OSIRIS-REx-Australia-flyby.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTriangulating the spacecraft\u2019s position over the Earth<\/h3>\n
![\"Professor](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Professor-Phil-Bland-Meteorite-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Desert](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/DFN-OREx-group.jpg\")
<\/p>\nExpanding the Desert Fireball Network\u2019s sphere of operations<\/h3>\n