NASA has promoted the project that seeks to bring soil samples from a near-Earth asteroid

A group from the University of Arizona proposes to launch a spacecraft to asteroid 10195 (so far known as 1999 RQ36). The group received funding from NASA to develop the proposal

 The proposed spacecraft. Illustration – University of Arizona

The ominous mass of rock and dust known as 10195, (previously asteroid 1999 RQ36) would be difficult to distinguish if it weren't for two essential factors: it is a reservoir of organic materials, which can give us insight into how the Earth was formed and how life began, and second, it regularly crosses the Earth's orbit And may collide with us one day. Says Joseph Noth of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
Noth is the chief scientist in the Osiris mission OSIRIs, within the framework of which soil samples will be brought from the asteroid for the purpose of an in-depth study of that near-Earth asteroid. The University of Arizona Planetary Sciences Laboratory wishes to promote the project. The department's director, Michael Drake, is also the principal investigator on the proposed mission. (In every mission in which external parties participate, there is also a scientist on behalf of NASA).
The mission, if launched, will be the first to return samples from an asteroid to Earth (assuming the Yabusa mission fails).
 Besides Goddard and the University of Arizona, Lockheed Martin, which builds the airborne systems, is also a partner in the project. The sampling mechanism and the capsule that will return the samples. Lockheed Martin will also be responsible for operating the spacecraft.
The Orsys team recently won a $1.2 million grant from NASA to develop more detailed engineering studies of how the spacecraft will achieve its scientific goals. Orsis is expected to be launched in 2011, reach the asteroid and take soil samples from it in 2013 and return to Earth in 2017.
Orsis is a mythological figure and also an acronym. O indicates the first letter in the scientific topic - "Origins" (Origins) with the aim of discovering the origin of life, SI is the initials of spectral interpretation (spectral analysis) - the photographing of a near-Earth object in wavelengths that will reveal its chemical composition, RI - resource identification - Resource Identification - Reviewing the asteroid to locate essential resources such as water and metals and S - Security, to learn how to predict the detailed movement of a near-Earth asteroid.

Osiris, in Egyptian mythology is the god responsible for life and fertility, who taught the Egyptians agriculture," says Dante Loretta, deputy chief researcher in the Osiris project, also from the University of Arizona. "There is a similarity between this god and the space mission proposed in the 21st century, we are investigating this type of object that probably brought life to Earth, and seeded it with the first biomolecules.
Returning the samples to Earth will enable a deep and comprehensive study of a near-Earth object. "The equipment in my lab is small, almost the size of a table, but it won't be easy to fly either," says Jason Dworkin, also from Goddard, who is also the deputy scientist of the project and a researcher in the Osiris project. "There are many steps that need to be prepared to retrieve the samples, and for the device to work well on the spacecraft."
"You can't expect surprises due to the limited equipment that can be installed in the spacecraft" says Noth. 30 years ago, the Viking lander examined dust samples from Mars and tested them for microscopic life. The result was controversial and since then there has been a debate as to whether it really discovered life or just a certain type of exotic chemical reaction. If we instead brought the example to Earth, we would be experimenting on them with today's advanced equipment. We can do this with the examples we will give through Osiris.”

According to him, the samples brought back by the Osiris spacecraft will be available to the international scientific community, so that people with different specialties will use different techniques to add unique insights. "The Stardust mission brought dust samples from the tail of Comet Wilt 2, a weight of about a tenth of a milligram. These samples have been analyzed by researchers all over the world," says Dvorkin. "Osiris will bring 150 grams - and we will be able to examine them almost at the level of the single atom. These examples will provide employment for many people for a long time."
The spacecraft will also make it possible to better track the trajectory of the asteroid that may one day hit the Earth, and will also measure the Yarkovsky effect for the first time. The Yarkovsky effect is the small nudge of asteroids that occurs when the asteroid absorbs sunlight and emits heat. The small push accumulates over time, and is uneven due to the dispersion of the various materials on the surface, the asteroid's oscillations and its self-circulation. There is no sure way to predict the path of a near-Earth asteroid unless one can estimate how the Yarkovsky effect will change its path, the team says. "It's like trying to take the pot with an accurate hit in a game of pool when someone shakes the table and kicks it with their feet" says Noth.

The diameter of RQ36 is about 580 meters. Its orbit brings it to distances of 133 million km to 203 million km., and it approaches up to a distance of 450 thousand km, that is, slightly beyond the moon. The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center classified RQ36 as a potentially hazardous asteroid. "The asteroid does not pose any danger in the near future, but a small push of Yarkovsky for hundreds of orbits could bring it close enough to pose a danger." Noth says.
The Osiris proposal is one of twenty proposals submitted to the agency's discovery program in 2006. In addition to Osiris, NASA selected two other proposals of a similar scale, as well as three proposals of a similar type that will fly on existing NASA spacecraft. All these proposals received funding for the development of the initial concept. NASA may choose to advance one or more of these missions and will allow them to move forward in development after reviewing these concepts. Decisions regarding the proposals to be selected are expected towards the end of 2007.
For news based on a press release from the University of Arizona, in Spice Daily