Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Arizona
A NASA spacecraft will zoom past Earth today (Sept. 22) on its way to a distant asteroid, and you can give the probe a proper send-off.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will cruise within just 10,500 miles (17,000 kilometers) of Earth at 12:52 p.m. EDT (1652 GMT) today, using our planet's gravity to slingshot itself toward the 1,640-foot-wide (500 meters) asteroid Bennu.
NASA is encouraging folks around the world to wave at OSIRIS-REx as it goes by today — and to post photos of themselves doing this on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using the hashtag #HelloOSIRISREx. (You can tag the mission as well; its handle is @OSIRISREx.) [ OSIRIS-REx: NASA's Asteroid Sample-Return Mission in Pictures ]
If you have a telescope with an aperture of 8 inches (20 centimeters) or larger, you may even be able to get a glimpse of the spacecraft, which will approach Earth at about 19,000 mph (30,600 km/h) and make its closest pass over Antarctica.
"Observers in both hemispheres may be able to see the spacecraft during approach until a few hours before closest flyby," mission team members wrote in a "Spot the Spacecraft" FAQ . "For many observers, the spacecraft will appear in the constellations of Cetus and Pisces."
If you do get a good image, the OSIRIS-REx team would like to see it. The mission is soliciting flyby photos, which can be uploaded here: http://www.asteroidmission.org/upload-spacecraft-imagery/
This type of research should also get more funding.