Brewster Rockit by Tim Rickard for September 24, 2023

Or they could possibly study us.

Interesting that they would name a space craft after the god of the dead.

It’s has a 4 billion year old virus that will come out of dormancy and destroy us all. Just like the Andromeda strain.

I saw an interesting explanation about the purpose of this mission from Neil deGrasse Tyson. There is a very small chance that the Asteroid Bennu could hit the Earth in approximately 180 years. One of the purposes of the mission is to understand the structural composition of the asteroid so that we know what we would need to do in case the chances of a collision with Earth increase and we need to do something about it. That way we have a better chance of deflecting it instead of just scattering it and creating a larger number of impacts.

He also explained that the size of the impact would not be an extinction event, but depending on where it hits it can wipe our an area the size of a large city (if it hits on land) or could cause a giant Tsunami that could race across an entire continent if it lands in the ocean.

Bennu there, done that.

Timely here. I just recorded all the Aliens movies…

Don’t let Brewster pilot the helicopter that will retrieve the sample. With his flying skills, he’d drop it, it would break into millions of tiny pieces, and the sample would be too contaminated to be of any use.

And Dr. Sir Brian May had a role in this – Queen’s Brian May talks to Space.com about his role in NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission and new book on asteroid Bennu

OMG, that’s TODAY! I have to go hide under my pillow…..

Relax, they’re very friendly… ☺

too much information

The University of Arizona here in Tucson has been a big part of this. One of the head researchers has created a 3-D map of Bennu, with a lot of help from one Brian May, who has a PhD in astrophysics. If the name is familiar, Mr. May is part of an obscure rock band called….what is it?….oh, yes: “Queen.”

Thanks to this strip, I just watched the safe landing live on NASA feed, LIVE!

According to NASA, the OSIRIS craft is being sent on another mission:

“NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft completed its final task for this mission when it released its sample capsule toward Earth less than an hour ago. About 20 minutes after doing so, the spacecraft fired its engines to divert past Earth toward its new mission to asteroid Apophis and was renamed OSIRIS-APEX.

Roughly 1,000 feet wide, Apophis will come within 20,000 miles of Earth – less than one-tenth the distance between Earth and the Moon – in 2029. OSIRIS-APEX is scheduled to enter orbit of Apophis soon after the asteroid’s close approach of Earth to see how the encounter affected the asteroid’s orbit, spin rate, and surface."

Updated news: It did successfully land by parachute in the desert.

Headline seen before reading the comix: it made it!

Very educational. I feel smarter, but not smart enough to make a difference in this area.

I didn’t realize Utah was such a big center of NASA research. Back in the fall of 1987, our family was on vacation at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks while the new Space Shuttle engine was about to be tested near Salt Lake City. I asked my stepdad if we would be able to hear the test, and he said, “Not if they’re successful.”

Like a biopsy? A colonoscopy?

Aaaaand…a perfect landing!

Congrats on a successful mission, OSIRIS-REx!

Thanks! Gotta tune in to JPL to see the updates.

That mission was a cool bit of gravitational engineering.

It landed just fine.