[meteorite-list] NASA Invites Public to Send Artwork to an Asteroid (OSIRIS-REx)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 15:08:16 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201602192308.u1JN8GGK025807_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

February 19, 2016

RELEASE 16-019

NASA Invites Public to Send Artwork to an Asteroid

NASA is calling all space enthusiasts to send their artistic endeavors on a
journey aboard NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource
Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft. This will
be the first U.S. mission to collect a sample of an asteroid and return it to
Earth for study.

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to launch in September and travel to the asteroid
Bennu. The #WeTheExplorers campaign invites the public to take part in this
mission by expressing, through art, how the mission's spirit of exploration
is reflected in their own lives. Submitted works of art will be saved on a
chip on the spacecraft. The spacecraft already carries a chip with more than
442,000 names submitted through the 2014 "Messages to Bennu" campaign.

"The development of the spacecraft and instruments has been a hugely
creative process, where ultimately the canvas is the machined metal and
composites preparing for launch in September,' said Jason Dworkin,
OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Maryland. "It is fitting that this endeavor can inspire the
public to express their creativity to be carried by OSIRIS-REx into space."

A submission may take the form of a sketch, photograph, graphic, poem, song,
short video or other creative or artistic expression that reflects what it
means to be an explorer. Submissions will be accepted via Twitter and
Instagram until March 20. For details on how to include your submission on
the mission to Bennu, go to:

http://www.asteroidmission.org/WeTheExplorers

"Space exploration is an inherently creative activity," said Dante
Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona,
Tucson. "We are inviting the world to join us on this great adventure by
placing their art work on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, where it will stay in
space for millennia."

The spacecraft will voyage to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu to collect a
sample of at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) and return it to Earth for study.
Scientists expect Bennu may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and
the source of the water and organic molecules that may have made their way to
Earth.

Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety
and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. The University of Arizona, Tucson leads
the science team and observation planning and processing. Lockheed Martin
Space Systems in Denver is building the spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third
mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages New Frontiers for the agency's Science
Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information on OSIRIS-Rex, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

-end-
Received on Fri 19 Feb 2016 06:08:16 PM PST