Credit: NASA

2020-03-02

This week, OSIRIS-REx continued Reconnaissance C phase operations. The mission team spent the week preparing for the Nightingale site 250-metre flyover, scheduled for March 3 .

The mission team has made the decision to use OLA's high-energy laser transmitter (HELT) to provide the ranging data to focus PolyCam during the March 3 flyover of site Nightingale. Canadian instrument OLA had successfully completed all tasks related to selecting Nightingale as the primary sample acquisition site. OLA consists of two laser subsystems: the HELT and the low-energy laser transmitter (LELT). OLA's LELT was originally scheduled to provide the ranging data.

However, as a result of the anomaly that occurred during the Reconnaissance B site Osprey flyover, the team has determined that the LELT system is no longer operable. Despite the LELT's condition, the HELT system has continued to operate as expected, and will be used to focus PolyCam for the remaining reconnaissance passes.

OLA has already completed all of its principal requirements for the OSIRIS-REx mission. OLA's scans of Bennu's surface were used to create the high-resolution 3D global maps of Bennu's topography that were crucial for selecting the primary and backup sample collection sites last fall.