On 2017-09-21 we have observed a NASA OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on its journey to the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (101995) Bennu during a gravitational assist maneuver near the Earth.
This little dot visible in the center of the image above is a car size spacecraft (2.5 x 2.5 x 6.5m) at a distance of 760 000 km – twice a distance to the Moon! This observation was possible thanks to Poznań Spectroscopic Telescope 2 – our robotic telescope in Arizona.
More informations about spacecraft on a project website.
The animation below shows an observation of the flight:
25.09.2017 – AK, KK