Dante Lauretta is principal investigator of the OSIRIS-REx mission and a professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. His research interests focus on the chemistry and mineralogy of asteroids and comets, and he is an expert in the analysis of extraterrestrial materials, including asteroid samples, meteorites and comet particles.

Dr. Lauretta heads a research team at the UA working on this mission, which has included more than 100 undergraduate and graduate students. The mission was selected in 2011, launched in 2016, and returns samples back to Earth in 2023. Sample analysis continues until 2025. This project will help ensure that the University of Arizona remains at the forefront of planetary exploration for the next decade.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission

The OSIRIS-REx mission will be traveling to Bennu, a carbon-rich, near-Earth asteroid. The spacecraft launched on September 8, 2016, and is scheduled to rendezvous with Bennu in 2018 and ultimately bring samples of the asteroid back to Earth. These samples will be the first for a U.S. mission and may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the organic molecules that may have seeded life on Earth.

The University of Arizona leads the mission for NASA, and it is also providing the science operations team and the spacecraft’s camera system. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center provides overall mis- sion management. Lockheed Martin Space Systems built the spacecraft. United Launch Alliance built the mission’s Atlas V launch vehicle. The mission is in an exciting phase right now as the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is on its outbound journey to Bennu.

www.AsteroidMission.org

Title: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission at Near-Earth Asteroid Bennu

Abstract:

In May 2011, NASA selected the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) asteroid sample return mission as the third mission in the New Frontiers program. The spacecraft departed Earth on September 8, 2016, on a seven-year journey to study and return a sample from near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. The outbound-cruise trajectory resulted in optical acquisition of Bennu on August 18, 2018, when the asteroid was just bright enough for detection by the PolyCam imager. These first science observations marked the beginning of asteroid proximity operations. The Approach phase was followed by Preliminary Survey, which consisted of five hyperbolic trajectories that crossed over the north and south poles and the equator at a range of ~7 km. The spacecraft was placed into orbit on December 31, 2018, beginning the Orbital A phase. The spacecraft data collected during these periods provide information about Bennu’s surface reflectance, mineralogical distributions, geology, and thermal characteristics.

Title: Transdisciplinary modeling of mosquito-borne diseases

Abstract:

Understanding mosquito-borne diseases requires a transdisciplinary approach that combines mathematical modeling with epidemiology, insect science, public health, data science, and geography. This presentation will focus on three questions related to diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti, emphasizing opportunities for undergraduate research. Specifically, we will consider how climate affects the life cycle of the mosquito, how hidden properties of epidemiological models have helped forecast the spread of chikungunya in the Caribbean and the Americas, and how the way people move between places may be used to predict where a disease may go next.

Title: The History of Multiplication; What Goes Around, Comes Around

Abstract:

Dr. Madden will give a brief history of the methods people have used to multiply numbers from the prehistory of numbers up until the present. He will cover topics like: What are the earliest signs of people multiplying? How did the Romans multiply? How do astronomers use trigonometry to multiply? Who invented logarithms and why? Where did the method we are taught today come from?

Title: Oxygen transport in the body: a matter of life and death

Abstract:

Most cells in the human body require an adequate oxygen supply so that they can generate enough energy to stay alive and to function properly. While some tissues of the body can survive long periods of oxygen deprivation, others, notably the brain, suffer irreversible damage within minutes if they are not supplied with oxygen. Oxygen does not dissolve readily in water or in our body tissues, so how can we get enough oxygen to where it is needed? This lecture will describe some of the remarkable features of the circulatory system that enable it to perform this task, emphasizing the critical role of red blood cells flowing in the microcirculation. The use of mathematical and computational approaches to gain better understanding of the mechanisms of oxygen transport in the body will be highlighted.