OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission will use Canadian 3D technology

Canada is about to build technology that will be used to map an asteroid in3Dusing lasers on an upcoming space mission.

The tool will fly aboard NASA's unmannedOSIRIS-RExspacecraft, which will visit the asteroidBennu, collect a sample from its surface, and bring that back to Earth, Canadian Space Agency head WalterNatynzczktolda news conference in Toronto on Thursday.

• Asteroid awaiting NASA visit gets new name from boy, 9

The spacecraft will launch in September 2015, reachBennuin November 2018 and return to Earth in 2023.

Canadian scientists willworkwithspace technology firm MacDonald,Dettwillerand Associates Ltd. (MDA). The companyis about to start building and testing the new tool, known as theOSIRIS-RExLaser Altimeter (OLA).

"They will be creating a3Dmap of the asteroid. That will help the team choose the best site to land and collect the sample using advanced robotics," Treasury Board president Tony Clement said at the news conference.

Craig Thornton, general manager for robotics and automation forMDA, said thedevice will take 160 million measurements ofBennu, which is almost 500 metres in diameter, generating the most accurate map ever created of an asteroid.

• Read the Canadian Space Agency's backgrounder on the OSIRIS-REx mission
• Read more about Canada's contribution to the OSIRIS-RExmission

Clement said the federal government pledged $61 million to the mission over the next 15 years, including a $9-million contract toMDA.

In return for its contribution theCSAwill get four per cent of the asteroid sample for its scientists to study.

York University researcher MikeDaly, deputy principal investigator for the OLA team, said he thinks as a result of the mission, "we're going to learn things about these asteroids that we never, ever expected to learn."

In an interview with CBC News, retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfieldsaid the operation will be very challenging because Bennu is constantly rotating.

"Imagine if you were trying to drive your car into a parking spot that is spinning," he said, addingthat the OLA will help the spacecraft approach the the asteroid safely.

Bennu is a carbon-rich asteroid made up of material that is thought to be left over from the formation of the solar system and its rocky planets.

Hadfieldthinksstudying asteroids like Bennu will help scientists understand the origin of our planet. It may also help humans defend themselves against asteroids that threaten Earth.

"You kind of have to know truly what asteroids are made of," he said,"and are they something you could deflect, or is there valuable mineral wealth on them?"

The Canadian scientific team for the mission will be led by Alan Hildebrand at the University of Calgary, and include researchers from the:

• University of British Columbia.
• University of Toronto.
• University of Winnipeg.