NASA is offering a unique proposition to all earthlings. The US's Space Administration is presenting the opportunity to anyone who wishes to send their works of art which will in turn be sent to an asteroid.
All Americans, as well as residents of all other countries can send their drawings, pictures, photographs and sculptures. NASA guarantees that they will be sent to the space asteroid Bennu.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will be making the express delivery. Anyone who would like for their artwork to fly in outer space must send pictures by March 20 through Instagram and Twitter. You'll find more detailed information on the organizers' website.
On board OSIRIS-REx, the artworks will be recorded digitally. The spacecraft's mission will be to go into orbit around the Sun, where the asteroid itself orbits, to catch up to and land on it.
After it leaves behind its earthly heritage, the spacecraft is to take a surface sample of the celestial object. This will happen using a specially mounted robot arm, equipped with a special pneumatic device.
Once it completes its task, OSIRIS-REx will head back for its return trip to Earth. The spacecraft is expected to return in 2021.
The asteroid Bennu is considered the most dangerous to Earth, since it passes closest to our planet. In the year 2182 it will come perilously close to us. The probability of it hitting us is calculated at 1 in 4000.
The name Bennu is not accidental. It is the name of the bird, which according to Egyptian mythology, created everything on Earth. The legend goes that Bennu is the soul of the Egyptian god Ra. Osiris, on the other hand, was his heir.
