The Asteroid Mission is a pioneer in Brazil

KSCIA opens new frontier for the study of space exploration

The Asteroid Mission Team

A probe launched towards the asteroid Bennu in order to collect a sample of the asteroid and bring it to Earth. NASA's mission, OSIRES-Rex, started in 2016 and, after two years on the way to the asteroid and two more years in search of the best place for collection, the probe starts its return to Earth with the sample. "If all goes well and the probe can return, it will be the first time that we will have a pure sample of an asteroid to analyze", said the coordinator of the project The Asteroid Mission in Brazil, José Carlos Filho.

Straight from the Kennedy Space Center launch base, and through the “International Journey of Science and Technology” program, a group of students had the opportunity to follow the launch of the rocket that took the probe to Bennu. It was then that a new project came to life: the educational program The Asteroid Mission. Inspired by NASA's “OSIRES-REx” mission, the initiative encourages young people aged eight to fourteen to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education.

Rover activity during The Asteroid Mission educational program

For eight hours in a two-day program, students learn about the history of space exploration and the characteristics of NASA's mission, which seeks to answer, through the analysis of Bennu's chemical composition, questions such as “what is the origin of the universe? ”. "This is an incredible project that has inspired dozens of young people to follow space," said Jefferson Michaelis, co-founder of Science Days USA and founder of the Michaelis Foundation, a partner in the project. The probe is expected to return to Earth in 2023, creating a new era.
​
- Luma Keily
International Correspondent

Photography by: The Asteroid Mission educational program (http://www.theasteroidmission.com/)