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NASA, University Of Arizona Research Team To Speak At American Geophysical Union

NASA’s mission to reach an asteroid was finally successful last week. Now, researches at the University of Arizona will present preliminary findings from the OSIRIS-REx mission at the American Geophysical Union beginning Monday in Washington, D.C.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, developed by University of Arizona researchers, completed the first step in the asteroid sampling-mission: arriving at the near-earth asteroid Bennu. After trailing the asteroid for more than 27 months, OSIRIS-REx has finally began making measurements of Bennu.

But the mission has barely started. The spacecraft will not touch Bennu until the summer of 2020 when it will land on the asteroid for no more than 5 seconds to collect a brief rock sample. The spacecraft is not scheduled to return to Earth until September 2023.

During the week-long American Geophysical Union meetings, researchers from University of Arizona will also discuss new findings on the changing snow-pack and snowfall in the West and the effect these changes could have on wildfires in the western United States.

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Elly Lundberg was an intern at KJZZ in 2018.