Welcome from the Head and Director
This month's newsletter includes, of course, some great updates on OSIRIS-REx and the extended mission, OSIRIS-APEX. I had the exciting opportunity to see for myself some of the Bennu sample that is already in the Kuiper building undergoing preliminary analyses by LPL team members. Results of some of the first look Bennu analyses, as well as an overview of OSIRIS-APEX, can be found below.
In other small bodies news, Dr. Renu Malhotra has developed an explanation for how a fragment of the Moon managed to become the near-Earth asteroid, Kamo`aolewa; and citizen scientists working with the Catalina Sky Survey have found their first asteroid by combing through CSS data. Speaking of CSS, LPL’s Carson Fuls has been named the survey's new director. Carson has years of experience with CSS and replaces Eric Christensen, who has joined the Rubin Observatory staff. We thank interim (and former) CSS director Ed Beshore for his service in bridging the gap between Eric and Carson.
Be sure to have a look at the feature article on HiRISE DTMs (digital terrain models). The HiRISE team has now imaged almost 5% of the Martian surface and an important part of the instrument’s mission is to obtain stereoscopic views of the surface, from which DTMs are produced. LPL’s Sarah Sutton is leading an effort to establish a photogrammetry specialization at LPL; the program would serve future missions in the production of 3D surface models.
Finally, the last of our 2023 fall evening lectures will take place on Nov. 15. Dani DellaGiustina will update us on early results from OSIRIS-REx and the future of the extended OSIRIS-APEX mission to explore the asteroid Apophis. If you can't attend in person, register for the Zoom webinar using the link below.
Mark S. Marley, Ph.D.
Department Head and Laboratory Director
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