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NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, will launch next month and travel to asteroid Bennu to harvest a sample for analysis.
In order for the team to select a sample site, they need more detail of Bennu’s topography.
Enter the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter, or OLA.
This robotic cartographer will be used to create three-dimensional global topographic maps of the asteroid and sample site candidates.
Check out the video below for more information on this sophisticated technology from the Canadian Space Agency.
Originally published by Cosmos as How lasers will map asteroid Bennu
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