MSGID: 1:3828/7 a4027881
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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