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The unexpected surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu

Nature volume 568, pages 55–60 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

NASA’S Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft recently arrived at the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu, a primitive body that represents the objects that may have brought prebiotic molecules and volatiles such as water to Earth1. Bennu is a low-albedo B-type asteroid2 that has been linked to organic-rich hydrated carbonaceous chondrites3. Such meteorites are altered by ejection from their parent body and contaminated by atmospheric entry and terrestrial microbes. Therefore, the primary mission objective is to return a sample of Bennu to Earth that is pristine—that is, not affected by these processes4. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft carries a sophisticated suite of instruments to characterize Bennu’s global properties, support the selection of a sampling site and document that site at a sub-centimetre scale5,6,7,8,9,10,11. Here we consider early OSIRIS-REx observations of Bennu to understand how the asteroid’s properties compare to pre-encounter expectations and to assess the prospects for sample return. The bulk composition of Bennu appears to be hydrated and volatile-rich, as expected. However, in contrast to pre-encounter modelling of Bennu’s thermal inertia12 and radar polarization ratios13—which indicated a generally smooth surface covered by centimetre-scale particles—resolved imaging reveals an unexpected surficial diversity. The albedo, texture, particle size and roughness are beyond the spacecraft design specifications. On the basis of our pre-encounter knowledge, we developed a sampling strategy to target 50-metre-diameter patches of loose regolith with grain sizes smaller than two centimetres4. We observe only a small number of apparently hazard-free regions, of the order of 5 to 20 metres in extent, the sampling of which poses a substantial challenge to mission success.

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Fig. 1: Range of albedo on the surface of Bennu.
Fig. 2: OCAMS imaging data elucidate Bennu’s diverse surface reflectance and composition.
Fig. 3: OCAMS global mosaic overlain with elevation data and four regions of interest for sampling.

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Data availability

Data used in the plots in Figs. 1, 2 are available with this manuscript as Source Data. Raw and calibrated datasets will be available via the Planetary Data System (PDS) (https://sbn.psi.edu/pds/resource/orex/). Data are delivered to the PDS according to the OSIRIS-REx Data Management Plan, available in the OSIRIS-REx PDS archive. Higher-level products—for example, global mosaics and elevation maps—will be available in the Planetary Data System PDS one year after departure from the asteroid.

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Acknowledgements

This material is based on work supported by NASA under contract NNM10AA11C, issued through the New Frontiers Program.

Reviewer information

Nature thanks Harry Y. McSween Jr and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Author information

Author notes

  1. A list of authors and their affiliations appears at the end of the paper.

  2. These authors contributed equally: D. S. Lauretta, D. N. DellaGiustina

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    D. S. Lauretta, D. N. DellaGiustina, C. A. Bennett, D. R. Golish, K. J. Becker, S. S. Balram-Knutson, T. L. Becker, W. V. Boynton, C. Y. Drouet d’Aubigny, H. L. Enos, C. W. Hergenrother, E. S. Howell, M. C. Nolan, B. Rizk, H. L. Roper, P. H. Smith, C. W. V. Wolner, M. Arvizu-Jakubicki, E. Asphaug, E. Audi, R.-L. Ballouz, R. Bandrowski, K. J. Becker, T. L. Becker, S. Bendall, C. A. Bennett, H. Bloomenthal, D. Blum, W. V. Boynton, J. Brodbeck, K. N. Burke, M. Chojnacki, A. Colpo, J. Contreras, J. Cutts, C. Y. Drouet d’Aubigny, D. Dean, D. N. DellaGiustina, B. Diallo, D. Drinnon, K. Drozd, H. L. Enos, R. Enos, C. Fellows, T. Ferro, M. R. Fisher, G. Fitzgibbon, M. Fitzgibbon, J. Forelli, T. Forrester, I. Galinsky, R. Garcia, A. Gardner, D. R. Golish, N. Habib, D. Hamara, D. Hammond, K. Hanley, K. Harshman, C. W. Hergenrother, K. Herzog, D. Hill, C. Hoekenga, S. Hooven, E. S. Howell, E. Huettner, A. Janakus, J. Jones, T. R. Kareta, J. Kidd, K. Kingsbury, S. S. Balram-Knutson, L. Koelbel, J. Kreiner, D. Lambert, D. S. Lauretta, C. Lewin, B. Lovelace, M. Loveridge, M. Lujan, C. K. Maleszewski, R. Malhotra, K. Marchese, E. McDonough, N. Mogk, V. Morrison, E. Morton, R. Munoz, J. Nelson, M. C. Nolan, J. Padilla, R. Pennington, A. Polit, N. Ramos, V. Reddy, M. Riehl, B. Rizk, H. L. Roper, S. Salazar, S. R. Schwartz, S. Selznick, N. Shultz, P. H. Smith, S. Stewart, S. Sutton, T. Swindle, Y. H. Tang, M. Westermann, C. W. V. Wolner, D. Worden, T. Zega & Z. Zeszut

  2. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA

    O. S. Barnouin, O. S. Barnouin, K. Craft, R. T. Daly, C. Ernst, R. C. Espiritu, M. Holdridge, M. Jones, A. H. Nair, L. Nguyen, J. Peachey, M. E. Perry, J. Plescia, J. H. Roberts, R. Steele & R. Turner

  3. Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA

    W. F. Bottke, V. E. Hamilton, H. H. Kaplan, K. J. Walsh, W. F. Bottke, V. E. Hamilton, H. H. Kaplan & K. J. Walsh

  4. Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    H. Campins, H. Campins & Y. Fernandez

  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA

    B. E. Clark, B. E. Clark & S. Ferrone

  6. Department of Geology, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA

    H. C. Connolly Jr & H. C. Connolly Jr.

  7. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    J. P. Dworkin, A. Aqueche, B. Ashman, M. Barker, A. Bartels, K. Berry, B. Bos, R. Burns, A. Calloway, R. Carpenter, N. Castro, R. Cosentino, J. Donaldson, J. P. Dworkin, J. Elsila Cook, C. Emr, D. Everett, D. Fennell, K. Fleshman, D. Folta, D. Gallagher, J. Garvin, K. Getzandanner, D. Glavin, S. Hull, K. Hyde, H. Ido, A. Ingegneri, N. Jones, P. Kaotira, L. F. Lim, A. Liounis, C. Lorentson, D. Lorenz, J. Lyzhoft, E. M. Mazarico, R. Mink, W. Moore, M. Moreau, S. Mullen, J. Nagy, G. Neumann, J. Nuth, D. Poland, D. C. Reuter, L. Rhoads, S. Rieger, D. Rowlands, D. Sallitt, A. Scroggins, G. Shaw, A. A. Simon, J. Swenson, P. Vasudeva, M. Wasser & R. Zellar

  8. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    J. P. Emery, J. P. Emery & L. McGraw

  9. Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University–Misasa, Misasa, Japan

    M. R. M. Izawa & M. R. M. Izawa

  10. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    D. J. Scheeres, D. N. Brack, A. S. French, J. W. McMahon & D. J. Scheeres

  11. Aerospace Corporation, Chantilly, VA, USA

    D. E. Highsmith & J. Small

  12. Astronomical Institute, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    D. Vokrouhlický

  13. Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    N. E. Bowles, E. Brown, K. L. Donaldson Hanna & T. Warren

  14. Canadian Space Agency, Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada

    C. Brunet, R. A. Chicoine, S. Desjardins, D. Gaudreau, T. Haltigin, S. Millington-Veloza & A. Rubi

  15. Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA

    J. Aponte, N. Gorius & A. Lunsford

  16. Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    B. Allen, J. Grindlay, D. Guevel, D. Hoak & J. Hong

  17. Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    D. L. Schrader

  18. City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    J. Bayron

  19. Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    O. Golubov & P. Sánchez

  20. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    J. Stromberg

  21. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA

    M. Hirabayashi

  22. Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    C. M. Hartzell

  23. Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ, USA

    S. Oliver & M. Rascon

  24. Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    A. Harch, J. Joseph & S. Squyres

  25. Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    D. Richardson

  26. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    R. Ghent

  27. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    R. P. Binzel

  28. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    M. M. Al Asad, C. L. Johnson, L. Philpott & H. C. M. Susorney

  29. Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA

    C. L. Johnson, R. W. Gaskell, L. Le Corre, J.-Y. Li, J. L. Molaro, E. E. Palmer, M. A. Siegler, P. Tricarico, J. R. Weirich & X.-D. Zou

  30. Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    E. A. Cloutis

  31. Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA

    R. D. Hanna

  32. Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    F. Ciceri, A. R. Hildebrand & E.-M. Ibrahim

  33. Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    L. Breitenfeld, T. Glotch & A. D. Rogers

  34. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    C. A. Thomas

  35. Edge Space Systems, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    W. Chang

  36. General Dynamics C4 Systems, Denver, CO, USA

    A. Cheuvront

  37. Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    D. Trang

  38. Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

    S. Tachibana & H. Yurimoto

  39. INAF–Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Florence, Italy

    J. R. Brucato & G. Poggiali

  40. INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Padova, Italy

    M. Pajola

  41. INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Rome, Italy

    E. Dotto

  42. Indigo Information Services, Tucson, AZ, USA

    E. Mazzotta Epifani & M. K. Crombie

  43. Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS/Université Paris Sud, Orsay, France

    C. Lantz

  44. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain

    J. de Leon, J. Licandro & J. L. Rizos Garcia

  45. Jacobs Technology, Houston, TX, USA

    S. Clemett & K. Thomas-Keprta

  46. JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Sagamihara, Japan

    S. Van wal, M. Yoshikawa & S.-i. Watanabe

  47. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    J. Bellerose, S. Bhaskaran, C. Boyles, S. R. Chesley, C. M. Elder, D. Farnocchia, A. Harbison, B. Kennedy, A. Knight, N. Martinez-Vlasoff, N. Mastrodemos, T. McElrath, W. Owen, R. Park, B. Rush, L. Swanson, Y. Takahashi, D. Velez & K. Yetter

  48. Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    C. Thayer

  49. KinetX Aerospace, Inc., Simi Valley, CA, USA

    C. Adam, P. Antreasian, J. Bauman, C. Bryan, B. Carcich, M. Corvin, J. Geeraert, J. Hoffman, J. M. Leonard, E. Lessac-Chenen, A. Levine, J. McAdams, L. McCarthy, D. Nelson, B. Page, J. Pelgrift, E. Sahr, K. Stakkestad, D. Stanbridge, D. Wibben, B. Williams, K. Williams & P. Wolff

  50. Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    P. Hayne & D. Kubitschek

  51. LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Meudon, France

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  52. Lockheed Martin Space, Littleton, CO, USA

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  55. Mars Space Flight Facility, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

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  56. Mines ParisTech, Paris, France

    M. Bernacki & D. Pino Munoz

  57. Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

    S.-i. Watanabe

  58. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA

    S. A. Sandford

  59. NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, USA

    J. Grossman, G. Johnston, M. Morris & J. Wendel

  60. NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA

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  61. NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA

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  64. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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  65. School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

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Contributions

D.S.L. led the OSIRIS-REx mission, analysis and writing of the paper. D.N.D. leads the Image Processing Working Group (IPWG), which includes C.A.B., D.R.G., K.J.B., T.L.B., H.C., E.S.H. and P.H.S. The IPWG developed the image calibration pipeline, produced the global mosaic, analysed the surface for albedo variations and calculated the relative reflectance in the different MapCam filters. O.S.B. led the altimetry investigation and produced the elevation data. W.F.B. performed dynamical analysis linking Bennu to dark asteroids in the main asteroid belt. S.S.B.-K., W.V.B., B.E.C., C.Y.D.d’A., H.L.E., C.W.H., M.C.N. and B.R. designed the observation profiles and OCAMS operation plans for mission design and data acquisition. C.W.H. also led the astronomical characterization. H.C.C. Jr, J.P.D. and C.W.V.W. contributed to the content and writing of the manuscript. J.P.E. led the thermal analysis. V.E.H. led the spectral analysis, and M.R.M.I. and H.H.K. led the characterization and interpretation of the magnetite visible spectral properties. H.L.R. led the graphic design and figure development. D.J.S. led the radio science analysis and K.J.W. led the geological investigation of Bennu. The entire OSIRIS-REx Team made the encounter with Bennu possible.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. S. Lauretta.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 The global mosaic of Bennu, projected onto a sinusoidal map that preserves area.

The PolyCam images were photometrically corrected to mimic imaging conditions with phase, emission and incidence angles of 0°. The map has a pixel scale of 1.2 m per pixel. Images were taken on 25 November 2018.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Areas used for the calculation of the albedo variation in Fig. 1d.

Blue and orange outlines represent dark and bright clasts, respectively.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Timeline of the various observations made during the Approach phase.

The figure shows the key parameters affecting imaging conditions as a function of range to the asteroid and calendar date.

Extended Data Fig. 4 Schematic of Preliminary Survey, showing passes over the north pole, equator, and south pole.

Each trajectory leg lasts two days. The observations consist of MapCam mosaics made far from Bennu, both on the inbound and outbound legs from the closest approach, OLA observations made near the closest approach, both inbound and outbound, and additional MapCam mosaics made soon after the OLA observations but on the outbound legs of the polar flybys only. The time of closest approach to the pole was set at a nominal 17:00 utc for all flybys.

Extended Data Table 1 Observation parameters for early PolyCam images
Full size table
Extended Data Table 2 Observation parameters for late PolyCam images
Full size table
Extended Data Table 3 Observation parameters for Preliminary Survey distant MapCam activities
Full size table
Extended Data Table 4 Observation parameters for close MapCam activities
Full size table

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Lauretta, D.S., DellaGiustina, D.N., Bennett, C.A. et al. The unexpected surface of asteroid (101955) Bennu. Nature 568, 55–60 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1033-6

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