Phoenix. Waiting for the OSIRIS-REx probe to reach the Bennu asteroid in December 2018, NASA calls another 13 scientists to join the scientific team of the mission, including the Italian national, Maurizio Pajola – a researcher of the National Astrophysics Institute (INAF) of Padua. Pajola will be tasked with studying the surface of Bennu from images taken by the probe once the asteroid is approached, and in identifying the best site to install OSIRIS-REx which, thanks to its robotic arm, will take a sample of the surface to bring back to Earth. The researcher will be joined by Elisabetta Dotto of the INAF of Rome and John Robert Brucato of the INAF of Florence, already members of the Italian team that is part of the mission. The young scientist will commute between the Padua-based INAF and the University of Arizona every six months (2018-2021). (9Colonne)
