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Edward Beshore, the OSIRIS-REx Deputy Principal Investigator, recently returned from a July trip to Mysore, in the state of Kamataka in southern India, after presenting a talk at the COSPAR 2012 conference. Invited to make a presentation at this year’s meeting, Ed gave a talk, which reviewed the OSIRIS-REx mission objectives, information about our target asteroid 1999 RQ36, and the instrument suite and planned program of observations once we arrive at the asteroid. Since the talk was presented in a session dedicated to the astrobiology of small Solar System bodies, Ed’s talk concentrated on those aspects of the mission of particular interest to astrobiologists — the search for sources of organic materials and water — both essential to life as we know it.
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Learning Center of Infosys, a Indian multinational corporation with a large campus in Mysore, hosting the 39th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, July 14-22, 2012. Photo credit: Ed Beshore.
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Session attendees enthusiastically received news of the OSIRIS-REx mission. The primary objective of the mission is to return a sample from a carbon-rich asteroid, one that scientists believe is similar to carbonaceous stony meteorites in Earth collections. These ancient asteroids are believed to consist of the same materials from which the Solar System was built. Studying a sample will give scientists the opportunity to better understand how two important components of life — water and organic materials — found their way to the Earth.
COSPAR, the Committee on Space Research, is an international organization formed in 1958, shortly after the space age began with the launch of satellites by the former USSR and the United States. Today forty-six national scientific institution members participate in the organization and its biannual meetings to foster interdisciplinary and cooperative progress in space research. Talks at the meetings cover all aspects of science and technology that relate to the applications of spacecraft or the technologies used to build and operate them.
NASA, along with representatives of US industry and universities attend conferences like COSPAR to share their findings, learn from others, and to create partnerships for future missions and investigations. The atmosphere is always collegial, with new friendships made, old ones renewed, and a greater sense of understanding and cooperation forged.
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One of the Katol meteorites pierced the metal roof of a house. Photo credit: Geological Survey India. For more information on the fall click here. |
India, the host nation for COSPAR this year, has a vigorous domestic and commercial space program. The Indian Space Research Organization has launched a number of communications, weather, earth resources, and scientific satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Chennai on India’s southeast coast. This vigorous space program is an important asset of India’s growing economy.
And about that meteorite, an example of space coming to Earth….. In May 2012, a large meteorite shower damaged houses in the Katol region in the Nagpur district of Maharashtra, a state in north central India. Indian geologists will now study the meteorite in detail. Early reports indicate that it is a stony meteorite or chondrite with little iron: another source of ancient material scientists can study to learn about the early Solar System.
