expect up to the ace tomorrow , because if you ’re golden , and in the right place with a telescope , you might be capable to spot a ballistic capsule tearing by on its way to an asteroid .
That spacecraft is NASA ’s OSIRIS - REx , whichwas launchedon September 8 , 2016 , as it point to asteroid 101955 Bennu . It ’s scheduled to arrive in August 2018 , but to get there it needs a gravitational rise from our planet . So tomorrow at 12.52pm EST ( 4.52pm GMT ) , it will fly past to get a small speed bump .
OSIRIS - king will fly past at a distance of about 17,000 kilometers ( 11,000 miles ) . It will set out its flyby above Australia , finishing over Antarctica . You should be able to see it from nearby locations such as Japan and Chile too . You ’ll need a half comely telescope , though .
The spacecraft will be fussy testing out some of its instruments during the flyby , including snapping moving picture of Earth and the Moon . uranologist on the ground will also get a chance to take some images in the other direction and can submit their imagesonline .
“ The opportunity to capture image of the OSIRIS - king spacecraft as it approaches Earth provides a unequalled challenge for observers to hone their skills during this historical flyby , ” say Dante Lauretta , OSIRIS - REx principal research worker at the University of Arizona , Tucson , in astatement .
“ As the spacecraft set about Earth for its own imaging campaign , ground - based perceiver will also be looking up and exact exposure from the opposite perspective . ”
NASA is clearly delirious about the event , so they ’re asking multitude to “ brandish to OSIRIS - REx , ” read pictures of themselves and posting them on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag # HelloOSIRISREx . Do n’t forget to tag the charge accounts – @OSIRISREx on Twitter and @OSIRIS_REx on Instagram .
As it flies past , the spacecraft will be travel at about 30,000 kilometer per hr ( 19,000 international nautical mile per hour ) . This clash will give it an extra kick that will aid it make the rest of its journeying to Bennu , which is about 225 million kilometers ( 140 million miles ) from Earth .
Once the spacecraft reaches Bennu , it will expend two class keep an eye on it from a distance . Then , in July 2020 , it will come near the asteroid and effort to grab a sampling with a robotic weapon system . If all goes to programme , it will leave the asteroid in March 2021 , returning the sample to Earth in September 2023 .
