OSIRIS-REx

The OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter was the Canadian contribution to this NASA mission to study and sample the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. Details of the overall mission can be found at asteroidmission.org. The mission was launched from Space Launch Complex 41 on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida 2016 by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter consists of two assemblies connected by an electrical cable. The leftmost assembly contains power conversion, computer and timing circuitry. the rightmost assembly contains the two lasers, the two-axis scanning mirror and the optical detectors. Details of the instrument may be found in The OSIRIS-REx laser altimeter (OLA) investigation and instrument.

The spacecraft rendezvoused with Bennu in December 2019 and OLA was initially operated. The instrument was extremely successful and more than fulfilled its major mission goals by August 2020. The details of the approach for processing the OLA data are detailed in Digital terrain mapping by the OSIRIS-REx mission and in Global shape modeling using the OSIRIS-REx scanning Laser Altimeter.

The shape model produced using OLA data provided a backbone for interpreting datasets from other instruments. As an example, the November 2020 issue of science has a number of manuscripts that use OLA data and a cover image.

The movie below was created using the OLA model (degraded resolution for the web) with a uniform albedo and rendered with shadows to highlight the topographic relief.

Selected Manuscripts

• OSIRIS-REx: sample return from asteroid (101955) Bennu
• The unexpected surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu
• Evidence for widespread hydrated minerals on asteroid (101955) Bennu
• Properties of rubble-pile asteroid (101955) Bennu from OSIRIS-REx imaging and thermal analysis
• Craters, boulders and regolith of (101955) Bennu indicative of an old and dynamic surface
• Shape of (101955) Bennu indicative of a rubble pile with internal stiffness
• The dynamic geophysical environment of (101955) Bennu based on OSIRIS-REx measurements
• Episodes of particle ejection from the surface of the active asteroid (101955) Bennu
• The geophysical environment of Bennu
• The OSIRIS-REx laser altimeter (OLA) investigation and instrument
• Digital terrain mapping by the OSIRIS-REx mission
• Lessons learned from OSIRIS-Rex autonomous navigation using natural feature tracking
• Variations in color and reflectance on the surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu
• Asteroid (101955) Bennu’s weak boulders and thermally anomalous equator
• Bright carbonate veins on asteroid (101955) Bennu: Implications for aqueous alteration history
• Global patterns of recent mass movement on asteroid (101955) Bennu
• Exogenic basalt on asteroid (101955) Bennu
• A high-resolution global basemap of (101955) Bennu
• Hemispherical differences in the shape and topography of asteroid (101955) Bennu
• Heterogeneous mass distribution of the rubble-pile asteroid (101955) Bennu
• Bennu’s near-Earth lifetime of 1.75 million years inferred from craters on its boulders
• Disk-resolved photometric modeling and properties of asteroid (101955) Bennu
• Global geologic map of asteroid (101955) Bennu indicates heterogeneous resurfacing in the past 500,000 years
• Assessing the Sampleability of Bennu’s Surface for the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission
• Autonomous Navigation Performance Using Natural Feature Tracking during the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go Sample Collection Event
• Quality Assessment of Stereophotoclinometry as a Shape Modeling Method Using a Synthetic Asteroid
• Practical Stereophotoclinometry for Modeling Shape and Topography on Planetary Missions
• The use of digital terrain models for natural feature tracking at asteroid Bennu
• Ground Testing of Digital Terrain Models to Prepare for OSIRIS-REx Autonomous Vision Navigation Using Natural Feature Tracking
• The morphometry of small impact craters on Bennu: Relationships to geologic units, boulders, and impact armoring
• Crater population on asteroid (101955) Bennu indicates impact armouring and a young surface
• Geologic Context of the OSIRIS-REx Sample Site from High-resolution Topography and Imaging
• The Formation of Terraces on Asteroid (101955) Bennu
• OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) Bundle 4.0