[meteorite-list] NASA Invites Public to Send Artwork to an Asteroid (OSIRIS-REx)

[Ron Baalke]

February 19, 2016

RELEASE 16-019

NASA Invites Public to Send Artwork to an Asteroid 

NASA is calling all space enthusiasts to send their artistic endeavors on a 
journey aboard NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource 
Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft. This will 
be the first U.S. mission to collect a sample of an asteroid and return it to 
Earth for study.

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to launch in September and travel to the asteroid 
Bennu. The #WeTheExplorers campaign invites the public to take part in this 
mission by expressing, through art, how the mission's spirit of exploration 
is reflected in their own lives. Submitted works of art will be saved on a 
chip on the spacecraft. The spacecraft already carries a chip with more than 
442,000 names submitted through the 2014 "Messages to Bennu" campaign.

"The development of the spacecraft and instruments has been a hugely 
creative process, where ultimately the canvas is the machined metal and 
composites preparing for launch in September,' said Jason Dworkin, 
OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in 
Greenbelt, Maryland. "It is fitting that this endeavor can inspire the 
public to express their creativity to be carried by OSIRIS-REx into space."

A submission may take the form of a sketch, photograph, graphic, poem, song, 
short video or other creative or artistic expression that reflects what it 
means to be an explorer. Submissions will be accepted via Twitter and 
Instagram until March 20. For details on how to include your submission on 
the mission to Bennu, go to:

http://www.asteroidmission.org/WeTheExplorers

"Space exploration is an inherently creative activity," said Dante 
Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona, 
Tucson. "We are inviting the world to join us on this great adventure by 
placing their art work on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, where it will stay in 
space for millennia."

The spacecraft will voyage to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu to collect a 
sample of at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) and return it to Earth for study. 
Scientists expect Bennu may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and 
the source of the water and organic molecules that may have made their way to 
Earth.

Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety 
and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. The University of Arizona, Tucson leads 
the science team and observation planning and processing. Lockheed Martin 
Space Systems in Denver is building the spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third 
mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA's Marshall Space Flight 
Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages New Frontiers for the agency's Science 
Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information on OSIRIS-Rex, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

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