Tuesday Lunch Show and Tell

VILIM Vibration Therapy Ball

Jack got hisself a new toy - a VILIM Vibration Therapy Ball - to help with his essential tremor. Kinda spendy at $300, but like Dennis said - that's less than a dollar a day before Jack will be able to see a specialist about his problem.

Field Mower Jackshaft and Failed Tapered Roller Bearing

Seems like every week Dennis reports more trouble with his mowers. He's got at least two, one for the lawn and one for field. Parts are on order so we expect him to have it up and running before too long.

OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Mission Trajectory

So NASA sent a probe to collect some asteroid dirt from an asteroid that has an orbit similar to our own. Seven years round trip, which basically means it went around the sun seven times. Not how Flash Gordon would have done it, but then this was an economy cruise. Nice thing about robots, they don't have to be fed or watered, you can just put them to sleep for the duration and give 'em a call to wake them up when it's time to get to work. 

The video makes it look like everything was happening in the same plane which is not actually the case.

Earth Gravity Assist Trajectory – Image: University of Arizona

The plane of the asteroid's orbit is inclined six degrees compared to the Earth's. The probe was sent on a trajectory that caused it to be slightly below the Earth's orbital plane so when it caught up with the Earth after the first year, the Earth would give it a tug that would send it up at the required angle of six degrees.

P. S. The Silicon Graybeard has posted multiple times about this mission.

Asteroid 2016 HO3

Asteroid 2016 HO3 - Earth's Constant Companion
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Summary from View From The Porch:

Gaia has a pet rock.

It's not a moon, because it orbits the sun, not the earth. Well, sort of. Its orbit around the sun kind of oscillates around the earth, hence its name: Kamo'oalewa, which is apparently Hawaiian for something along the lines of 'oscillating celestial object'.

There are questions about its origin, whether it's a rogue asteroid that's been swept up in our gravitational orbit or what. The current prevalent theory is that it's an actual chunk of the moon knocked loose in a giant cosmic fender bender, and is following us through space like the celestial equivalent of those busted turn signal lenses you see lying on the pavement in busy intersections.

In order to settle the mystery, and because it would be a baller accomplishment that would be a feather in their space program's cap, China is planning on sending a probe to retrieve samples from it for study.