OSIRIS-REx Becomes OSIRIS-APEX as Mission Heads Toward Apophis

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has officially transitioned to its extended mission, renamed OSIRIS-Apophis Explorer (OSIRIS-APEX), as it embarks on its journey to rendezvous with and explore the Apophis asteroid in 2029! The Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics team at KinetX continues to provide navigation and flight dynamics support for the OSIRIS-APEX mission, and has been monitoring the spacecraft’s trajectory after it recently flew 0.27 AU closer to the Sun than it was originally designed. The spacecraft performed well through its closest encounter with the Sun, and continues to operate normally. More information about the OSIRIS-APEX mission can be found here, and more information about the solar closest approach can be found here.

Video of OSIRIS-APEX trajectory to Apophis.

Video Credit: NASA/GSFC/LM/KinetX