Good Morning, Colorado, and welcome to the Daily Sun-Up. It’s Tuesday October 20th, and we’re feeling lucky to start the day with you. Join us daily for an in-depth look at one of our top stories, followed by a quick summary of other important things happening in our state. Today, we’re discussing Colorado’s role in NASA’s first mission to collect asteroid dirt in an effort to learn how the solar system started.

But before we begin, let’s take a look at what happened on this day in Colorado history - adapted from Derek R Everett’s book “Colorado Day by Day”:

Today, we take you back to October 20th, 1787 when The Spanish governor of New Mexico reported a remarkable endeavor under way in present-day Colorado. It was a town being built to bring together former enemies to live in a place of peace. The community was named San Carlos de los Jupes and it lasted less than a year.

Now, our feature story. 

https://youtu.be/vZxGPyh-4_g 

Starting around 3 p.m. you can tune into NASA TV at NASA.gov to watch today’s mission.

The actual tag is expected to be broadcast live at 4:12 p.m. in Colorado -- or 18.5 minutes after touchdown occurs because it takes that long for data to travel back to earth. 

After a dress rehearsal in August, which didn’t touch the crater but got about 40 meters away, the spacecraft will begin descending to asteroid Bennu’s surface around 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday for its 4.5-hour sample collection journey. 

So how has Colorado been an important part of this mission? Well, it turns out a lot of the equipment being used was developed in Colorado.

Colorado Sun reporter Tamara Chuang has more details.

Thanks for joining us today, Tamara. Can you describe exactly what this equipment looks like and how it’ll be used?

And also, what’s the origin story of the TAGSAM?

Thanks so much Tamara.

So, if you’re anything like me you might be asking yourself why Bennu, there are nearly one million known asteroids out there. Why did they settle on this particular asteroid?

Well, Heather Enos, who’s part of the University of Arizona, Tucson science team working with Lockheed and NASA, offered three good reasons: its proximity to earth, its smaller size and its evidence for carbon-rich and water-bearing material needed for life.

She said that “We wanted their pristine carbon rich asteroids that would unlock clues to the formation of the solar system, unlike earth and life as we know it today,” 

And Jamie Elsila, a research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, said that they’re “looking for those building block molecules because those are going to help us understand what the ingredients were in the early solar system when life arose on earth and how those organic molecules might have been delivered to the earth’s surface and maybe to elsewhere in the solar system as well,” 

NASA also is working ontwo other asteroid-related missions, Lucy and Psyche. Lucy is expected to launch in 2021 to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, while Psyche launches in 2023 to study a giant metal asteroid Psyche in the main asteroid belt.

And for the most part, the research is to help us understand where our solar system came from.

Before we go here are a few stories you should know about today:

The Cal-Wood fire in Boulder County destroyed at least 20 homes on Saturday

High school students in Aurora will continue remote learning through at least mid-November, after the school district veered away from its original plan to start a hybrid model of learning on Tuesday.

Counties across the state have set up voting procedures meticulously designed to address health guidelines and voter fears about containing COVID-19, using Secretary of State funding from the federal CARES Act to buy everything from gloves to cheap pens. 

For more information on all of these stories, visit our website, www.coloradosun.com. 

The Colorado Sun is non-partisan and completely independent. We're always dedicated to telling the in-depth stories we need today more than ever. And The Sun is supported by readers and listeners like you.

Right now, you can head to ColoradoSun.com and become a member. Starting at $5 per month for a basic membership and if you bump it up to $20 per month, you’ll get access to our exclusive politics and outdoors newsletters. Thanks for starting your morning with us and don’t forget to tune in again tomorrow.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good Morning, Colorado, and welcome to the Daily Sun-Up. It&rsquo;s Tuesday October 20th, and we&rsquo;re feeling lucky to start the day with you. Join us daily for an in-depth look at one of our top stories, followed by a quick summary of other important things happening in our state. Today, we&rsquo;re discussing Colorado&rsquo;s role in NASA&rsquo;s first mission to collect asteroid dirt in an effort to learn how the solar system started.
But before we begin, let&rsquo;s take a look at what happened on this day in Colorado history - adapted from Derek R Everett&rsquo;s book &ldquo;Colorado Day by Day&rdquo;:
Today, we take you back to October 20th, 1787 when The Spanish governor of New Mexico reported a remarkable endeavor under way in present-day Colorado. It was a town being built to bring together former enemies to live in a place of peace. The community was named San Carlos de los Jupes and it lasted less than a year.
Now, our feature story.&nbsp;
<a href="https://youtu.be/vZxGPyh-4_g">https://youtu.be/vZxGPyh-4_g</a>&nbsp;
Starting around 3 p.m. you can tune into NASA TV at NASA.gov to watch today&rsquo;s mission.
The actual tag is expected to be broadcast live at 4:12 p.m. in Colorado -- or 18.5 minutes after touchdown occurs because it takes that long for data to travel back to earth.&nbsp;
After a dress rehearsal in August, which didn&rsquo;t touch the crater but got about 40 meters away, the spacecraft will begin descending to asteroid Bennu&rsquo;s surface around 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday for its 4.5-hour sample collection journey.&nbsp;
So how has Colorado been an important part of this mission? Well, it turns out a lot of the equipment being used was developed in Colorado.
Colorado Sun reporter Tamara Chuang has more details.
Thanks for joining us today, Tamara. Can you describe exactly what this equipment looks like and how it&rsquo;ll be used?
And also, what&rsquo;s the origin story of the TAGSAM?
Thanks so much Tamara.
So, if you&rsquo;re anything like me you might be asking yourself why Bennu, there are nearly one million known asteroids out there. Why did they settle on this particular asteroid?
Well, Heather Enos, who&rsquo;s part of the University of Arizona, Tucson science team working with Lockheed and NASA, offered three good reasons: its proximity to earth, its smaller size and its evidence for carbon-rich and water-bearing material needed for life.
She said that &ldquo;We wanted their pristine carbon rich asteroids that would unlock clues to the formation of the solar system, unlike earth and life as we know it today,&rdquo;&nbsp;
And Jamie Elsila, a research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, said that they&rsquo;re &ldquo;looking for those building block molecules because those are going to help us understand what the ingredients were in the early solar system when life arose on earth and how those organic molecules might have been delivered to the earth&rsquo;s surface and maybe to elsewhere in the solar system as well,&rdquo;&nbsp;
NASA also is working on<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-two-missions-to-explore-the-early-solar-system"> two other asteroid-related missions</a>, Lucy and Psyche. Lucy is expected to launch in 2021 to study Jupiter&rsquo;s Trojan asteroids, while Psyche launches in 2023 to study a giant metal asteroid Psyche in the main asteroid belt.
And for the most part, the research is to help us understand where our solar system came from.
Before we go here are a few stories you should know about today:
The <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2020/10/18/cal-wood-fire-structures-lost-acreage-updates-sunday/">Cal-Wood fire</a> in Boulder County destroyed at least 20 homes on Saturday
High school students in Aurora will continue remote learning through at least mid-November, after the school district veered away from its original plan to start a hybrid model of learning on Tuesday.
Counties across the state have set up voting procedures meticulously designed to address health guidelines and voter fears about containing COVID-19, using Secretary of State funding from the federal CARES Act to buy everything from gloves to cheap pens.&nbsp;
For more information on all of these stories, visit our website,<a href="http://www.coloradosun.com/"> www.coloradosun.com</a>.&nbsp;
The Colorado Sun is non-partisan and completely independent. We're always dedicated to telling the in-depth stories we need today more than ever. And The Sun is supported by readers and listeners like you.
Right now, you can head to ColoradoSun.com and become a member. Starting at $5 per month for a basic membership and if you bump it up to $20 per month, you&rsquo;ll get access to our exclusive politics and outdoors newsletters. Thanks for starting your morning with us and don&rsquo;t forget to tune in again tomorrow.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Welcome to The Colorado Sun's daily podcast, The Daily Sun-Up. Every day we’re sharing an in-depth look at one of our top stories, followed by a quick summary of important things happening in our state. For more visit us at https://coloradosun.com/.

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