FEB 19, 2016
NASA calls for Art Submissions (see also, press release above) to join Lockheed Martin and the University of Arizona in the OSIRIS-REx (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer) Mission. 

Thousands of Artists answered!

The Mission itself aims to obtain and return to earth, samples from a carbon-based, multi-billion year old asteroid as tall as the Empire State Building, said to be remnants of our solar system's formation. We call it Bennu.

MAR 20, 2016

NASA prepares the digital chip for space travel with more than seven thousand peices of visual, written, and auditory arts.

From here on, the space ship carries the only copy of the entire collection, as it's later reported by Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

offplanetart.com 

was only a "wouldn't it be cool?" idea, at the time.

SEPT 8, 2016

OSIRIS-REx launches flawlessly at 7:05 PM EDT from Cape Canaveral, Florida on an Atlas V rocket in the 411 configuration.

Thousands of under-celebrated Artists officially have their Artworks exhibiting in space!

Art that will get to do what no other human Art has done, live on a Space Craft sampling an asteroid. Eventually, as OSIRIS-REx and the Art Exhibition will retire orbiting the sun for as long as the space craft remains viable. Millennia!

SEPT 22, 2017

OSIRIS-REx swings by Earth to "borrow" some gravity for a 'sling-shot' toward the asteroid Bennu.

"During its Earth Gravity Assist maneuver last September, OSIRIS-REx used its MapCam imager to capture this color composite portrait of the spacecraft's home planet, centered on the Pacific Ocean. The dark vertical streaks at the top of the image are caused by short exposure times (less than three milliseconds), which were used to image Earth because the planet is much brighter than the dark asteroid the cameras were designed to image."
[source: OSIRIS-REx e-mail update 20180417]

The spacecraft also captured spectral data, and images of the Moon and the Earth-Moon system during its flyby.

JAN - OCT 2018

After the gravity assist, OSIRIS-REx traveled an average of 64,186 mph ( 103,297 kph ), so by January 2018, our Earth and moon were 39.5 million miles ( 63.6 million km ) away from it, and little more than a bright light in the dark sky.

That is one far-traveled Art Exhibition!

To approach the target, the space-craft actually had to preform a series of breaking manuvers to slow down enough to align with the asteroid Bennu, averaging 63,000 mph ( 101,389 kph! ) around our sun, at near the same orbit as Earth.

Yes, that makes this asteroid doomed to collide with Earth in the late 22nd century, but we will undoubtedly have the technology to thwart it by then!

Fall 2018 - Spring 2019

OSIRIS-REX surveyed Bennu, collecting data and selecting the best place for sampling.

Believe it or not, Joe-and-Jane-Normal-Scientists were asked to help  the OSIRIS-REx teams [dramatic pause] count rocks. It sounds boring and not very glorious, but it was vital to a successful sample collection. Can't have rocks flying around that could damage our beautiful space-craft now, can we? Sample selection site candidates were selected, in part, by the fewest number of potentially hazardous rocks.

In the surveying, Bennu became the first 'Active' Asteroid to be observed up-close, and OSIRIS-REx the first to observe it. For those really interested in the discoveries that were waiting for us upon Bennu, please visit the asteroidmission.org summary of the OSIRIS-REx special collection in Nature. 

OCT 20-28, 2020

After many rehearsals, it's official:  touch-down!
Want to see how the scientists designed this space-craft to collect samples from an asteroid over 200 million miles from Earth?

Watch it here!

OSIRIS-REx touched down on Benu October 20, 2020 collecting samples of Bennu's surface material, at least 2.1 ounces (59.5 grams) and up to 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of it, which will be returned to earth by 2023. Although the touch-down occurred on the 20th, it took several days to verify the collection was successful and in a workable amount. By October 28th, the sample head was stored safely in the capsule that will be it's ride to Earth!

It's a lot of work to take samples from such a long distance! 

MAR - MAY 2021

With samples stowed, OSIRIS-REx's departure window opened in March of 2021, and with all variables in order, the craft did one last fly-over for photos on April 7th.

Afterward, the craft departed from Bennu on May 10th, using the most complex thrusting maneuvers since it's arrival, hurtling the craft up to 600 mph (1000 kph) away from the ancient rock. The spacecraft and art-exhibit are headed for Earth, a two and a half year journey between celestial bodies, so OSIRIS-REx can drop off the collected samples to waiting scientists FIVE YEARS after the mission launched into space!

Read more here.

MAR 2022

Where is the fan-fair?

Thousands of Artists have digital copies of their art speeding through space with an active mission to get samples of the some of the oldest rock in our solar system, and bring it back to Earth!

Where on Earth is the gallery where the public can see this amazing diversity of earth and humanity?

lookpastit.com begins the call for all the submitting Artisans to provide more insights into their submissions and themselves, in preparation for a website database curated gallery exhibition of all the artworks, over 7,000 of them!

APR 2022

OSIRIS-REx now has a green light to visit ANOTHER asteroid after returning Bennu's samples to Earth in September of 2023. The new asteroid in question? Apophis, another asteroid with a similar orbit as earth, calculated to be approaching earth in 2029. It will get so CLOSE to Earth, people in Europe and Africa will be able to see Apophis with their naked eye!

So, OSIRIS-REx will drop off Bennu's samples and then turn back around (probably with a gravity assist) and head back into space to study the next Asteroid, and riding with it, the Earth Art that was launched into space with the craft years ago.

OCT-NOV 2022

lookpastit.com begins the vote for the earth art exhibit domain name. 

Requirements:

• easy to remember
• representative of the collection

 The winner is... offplanetart.com!

MADE ON EARTH

EXHIBITING OUT THERE

What does this collection say about Earth?

SEPT 22-24, 2023

Off Planet Art drops the first act of our "MADE ON EARTH. EXHIBITING OUT THERE." collection:

ORIGINAL SUBMISSIONS 

Moments. Feels. Dreams. 

OSIRIS-REx drops the samples off on Earth, where scientists are waiting to begin analysis, before the rest of the craft deflects from Earth to study the other asteroid, Apophis. 

Both the OSIRIS-REx Mission and offplanetart.com prepare for their second act.

SEPT 25 - OCT 11, 2023

In a lab built specifically for the OSIRIS-REx mission, dedicated and determined scientists disassemble the sample capsule while preserving the samples from earthly contamination.

In a live broadcast, the samples will be revealed to the public on nasa.gov/live OCT 11, 2023!