High-Resolution Insights from Bennu’s Nightingale Crater
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/UA
During the Nightingale flyby, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft got the closest it’s been to Bennu and was able to take observations of the surface. This sample site is the spacecraft's primary site for sampling and is located in the northern hemisphere of Bennu, in a crater. The main goal of the flyby was to take high resolution images of Bennu’s surface with the PolyCam instrument. Other instruments onboard took observations of the sampling site, including the OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emissions Spectrometer, the OSIRIS-REx Visual and InfraRed Spectrometer, the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter, and the MapCam color imager. This activity will allow the KinetX navigation team to assess the site for hazards that could affect the spacecraft’s TAG attempt.
