Sept. 8, 2016
RELEASE 16-096
 
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Speeds Toward Asteroid Rendezvous
 
NASA's first asteroid sampling mission launched into space at 7:05 p.m. EDT
Thursday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, beginning a
journey that could revolutionize our understanding of the early solar
system.
 
"Today, we celebrate a huge milestone for this remarkable mission, and
for this mission team," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.
"We're very excited about what this mission can tell us about the
origin of our solar system, and we celebrate the bigger picture of science
that is helping us make discoveries and accomplish milestones that might
have been science fiction yesterday, but are science facts today."
 
The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification,
Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft is designed to
rendezvous with, study, and return a sample of the asteroid Bennu to Earth.
Asteroids like Bennu are remnants from the formation of our solar system
more than 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists suspect that asteroids may have
been a source of the water and organic molecules for the early Earth and
other planetary bodies. An uncontaminated asteroid sample from a known
source would enable precise analyses, providing results far beyond what can
be achieved by spacecraft-based instruments or by studying meteorites.
 
OSIRIS-REx separated from its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 8:04
p.m. The solar arrays deployed and are now powering the spacecraft.
 
"With today's successful launch, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft embarks on
a journey of exploration to Bennu," said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx
principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. "I
couldn't be more proud of the team that made this mission a reality, and I
can't wait to see what we will discover at Bennu."
 
In 2018, OSIRIS-REx will approach Bennu - which is the size of a small
mountain - and begin an intricate dance with the asteroid, mapping and
studying Bennu in preparation for sample collection. In July 2020, the
spacecraft will perform a daring maneuver in which its 11-foot arm will
reach out and perform a five-second "high-five" to stir up
surface material, collecting at least 2 ounces (60 grams) of small rocks
and dust in a sample return container. OSIRIS-REx will return the sample to
Earth in September 2023, when it will then be transported to NASA's Johnson
Space Center in Houston for examination.
 
The OSIRIS-REx mission will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from
an asteroid back to Earth and the largest sample returned from space since
the Apollo era.
 
"It's satisfying to see the culmination of years of effort from this
outstanding team," said Mike Donnelly, OSIRIS-REx project manager at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "We were
able to deliver OSIRIS-REx on time and under budget to the launch site, and
will soon do something that no other NASA spacecraft has done - bring back
a sample from an asteroid."
 
Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering and the
safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. The University of Arizona
leads the science team and observation planning and processing. Lockheed
Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the
third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the agency's New Frontiers Program
for its Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Launch and countdown
management is the responsibility of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
 
For images, video, and more information, visit:
 
http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex
 
and
 
http://www.asteroidmission.org
 
 
Regards,
 
Roger

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