OSIRIS-REx asteroid sampling mission stacked atop Atlas V
NASA's first asteroid sampling mission is positioned atop an Atlas V rocket for a planned launch next week from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Starting at 3:15 a.m. Monday, teams moved the space agency's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a Kennedy Space Center clean room to the processing tower at the Cape's Launch Complex 41.
There the 4,650-pound probe was lifted atop the United Launch Alliance rocket targeting a liftoff next Thursday, Sept. 8, at 7:05 p.m.
"Our rocket now looks complete," tweeted Dante Lauretta, the mission's lead scientist from the University of Arizona.
OSIRIS-REx is an acronym for "Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer."
The $800 million mission aims to send the probe to a 2018 rendezvous with the dark, carbon-rich asteroid Bennu.
After mapping and studying the surface of the 1,600-foot-wide rock, the spacecraft will drop down to grab a minimum two-ounce sample of ancient gravel and dirt that is slated for return to Earth in a small capsule by 2023.
SpaceX plans Sept. 3 launch from Cape Canaveral
Scientists expect the pristine sample to advance understanding of the solar system's formation 4.5 billion years ago, and think the material may hold organic molecules like those thought to be precursors of life on Earth.
The study of Bennu also hopes to improve tracking of asteroids that might eventually threaten Earth, and could prove valuable to private companies aspiring to mine asteroids.
The 189-foot-tall Atlas V is scheduled to roll a short distance to its launch pad next Wednesday, the day before launch.
Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.