ocams

Lockheed Martin Space Systems has received the camera suite for installation on Nasa’s Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) spacecraft.

The company is building the spacecraft at its facility near Denver in the US.

Said to be the first US mission of its kind, OSIRIS-Rex is designed to bring samples of the Bennu asteroid to Earth.

The samples will help scientists study the composition of material from the earliest part of the solar system’s history, as well as provide insights into the source of organic materials and water on Earth.

Scheduled to launch in September 2016, the spacecraft will collect a sample, and return it to Earth in 2023.

Named OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS), the three camera instrument suite is built by the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

PolyCam, one of the three cameras, is a small telescope designed to capture the first images of Bennu from a distance of two million kilometres and provide high-resolution imaging.

"MapCam will search for satellites and dust plumes around Bennu…while SamCam will document the sample acquisition event."

The second camera, MapCam, will search for satellites and dust plumes around Bennu and map the asteroid in colour, to create topographic maps, while SamCam will document the sample acquisition event and the collected sample.

University of Arizona, Tucson OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta said: "PolyCam, MapCam and SamCam will be our mission’s eyes at Bennu.

"OCAMS will provide the imagery we need to complete our mission while the spacecraft is at the asteroid."

Last month, Lockheed received OSIRIS-Rex’s Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS) instrument and the OSIRIS-Rex Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) instrument in June.

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center is responsible for OSIRIS-REx’s mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance activities.

Image: University of Arizona-designed camera suite, OCAMS, for OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft. Photo: courtesy of University of Arizona / Symeon Platts.