These stereoscopic images are a set of close-ups of ancient asteroid Bennu product recovered by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx objective and provided to Earth on September 24,2023 The product is on top of the TAGSAM (Touch- and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism), the instrument utilized to gather the sample from the asteroid in2020 The sample and TAGSAM are presently in a tidy space within the Astromaterials Curation Facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center inHouston Credit: Erika Blumenfeld, Joseph Abersold for the initial images/Brian May, Claudia Manzoni for stereo processing of the images.
< period class ="glossaryLink" aria-describedby ="tt" data-cmtooltip ="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>NASA</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion." NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.</div>" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}] "> NASA‘s < period class =(******************************************** )aria-describedby ="tt" data-cmtooltip ="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>OSIRIS-REx</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Launched in 2016, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will help astronomers investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of near-Earth asteroids.</div>" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" > OSIRIS-REx objective, while not at first meant for stereoscopic imaging, gained from the competence ofBrian May and(****************************************************************************************************************************** )Manzoni, who used the objective’s huge visual information to produce 3D pictures of asteroidBennu
Making stereoscopic pictures of asteroidBennu was not part of the short of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx objective; however we civilians,ClaudiaManzoni and myself(BrianMay,Queen guitar player and astrophysicist), were welcomed by objective primary detective Dante Lauretta to sign up with the science group and discover chances for stereoscopy in the wealth of visual information gotten by the spacecraft’s cams at Bennu.
To do this, we searched for sets of pictures of Bennu’s surface area drawn from perspectives some range apart. This separation of perspectives, referred to as the “baseline,” needs to be ideal to offer us the experience of depth and truth when the images are seen stereoscopically. Such watching needs the left and ideal images to be provided independently to our left and ideal eyes, which is how we see in “real life.” When this is done, the little distinctions in between the elements of the stereo set– referred to as parallax distinctions– offer our brains the chance to immediately view depth and strength in the image.
In the case of the images revealed here, with the Bennu sample securely provided to world Earth, the curation group made it simple for us.In the minutes when the TAGSAM head was turned over after eliminating it from the avionics deck at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, photos from lots of angles were recorded, allowing us to discover simply one (almost!) best set, revealing the intimate structure of simply a couple of grains of the dark, coal-black sample.
It’s possible to see this side-by-side stereoscopic set without a stereoscope, by unwinding the axes of the eyes, as if looking through the screen to infinity.But the very best experience will be had by utilizing a stereoscope, the very same method the OSIRIS-REx objective group saw our stereo images while the search was on to discover a safe area on asteroid Bennu’s surface area for the fragile Touch- and-Go tasting maneuver.
The biggest “boulders” in this image have to do with 1 centimeter throughout. Enjoy this piece of history in the making!
