What's Up? The Space Place

Hey Space Placers! Ever wonder how our place in the Universe, the solar system formed? Here is a great 4K video that gives us insight on how astronomers think the solar system came to be. It also gives a description of the NASA  OSIRIS-REx  mission which will reach the asteroid Bennu in December of this year. The spacecraft is in good health and will begin its    last   deep space   maneuver June 28 and instrument checkout in July. I n the video chondrules (thought to be the first solid matter to form in the solar system and basic building blocks for planets) are mentioned. Here is what a large chondrule looks like - it is the large gray spherical shape in this Chelyabinsk meteorite specimen . Sky Guy in VA

Hey Space Placers! Direct from NASA HQ: NASA is inviting the worldwide public to submit short messages and images on social media that could be placed in a time capsule aboard a spacecraft launching to an asteroid in 2016. Called the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security- Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx), the spacecraft will rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu in 2019, collect a sample and return the cache in a capsule to Earth in 2023 for detailed study. The robotic mission will spend more than two years at the 1,760-foot (500-meter)-wide asteroid and return a minimum of 2 ounces (60 grams) of its surface material. Topics for submissions by the public should be about solar system exploration in 2014 and predictions for space exploration activities in 2023. The mission team will choose 50 tweets and 50 images to be placed in the capsule. Messages can be submitted  Sept. 2 - 30 . "Our progress in space exploration has been nothing short of amazing,"...