OSIRIS-REx will travel to near-Earth asteroid Benn on a sample return mission. Credit: NASA
NASA is preparing to launch its first mission to return a sample of an asteroid to Earth. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and bring a sample back to Earth for intensive study. Launch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 8 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The 4,650-pound fully-fueled spacecraft will launch aboard an Atlas V 411 rocket during a 34-day launch period that begins Sept. 8, and reach its asteroid target in 2018. After a careful survey of Bennu to characterize the asteroid and locate the most promising sample sites, OSIRIS-REx will collect between 2 and 70 ounces of surface material with its robotic arm and return the sample to Earth via a detachable capsule in 2023.
“The launch of OSIRIS-REx is the beginning a 7-year journey to return pristine samples from asteroid Bennu,” said OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta, University of Arizona.
Atlas V, Centaur Upper Stage at SLC-41 8 days agoPictured: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket first stage booster is lifted into position at Space Launch Complex 41, located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Aug. 8.
~OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS) – A system consisting of 3 cameras will observe Bennu and provide global imaging, sample site imaging, and will witness the sampling event.
~OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) – A scanning LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) contributed by the Canadian Space Agency will be used to measure the distance between the spacecraft and Bennu’s surface, and will map the shape of the asteroid.
~OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) – that will investigate mineral abundances and provide temperature information with observations in the thermal infrared spectrum.
~OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS) – and designed to measure visible and infrared light from Bennu to identify mineral and organic material.
~Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) – will observe the X-ray spectrum to identify chemical elements on Bennu’s surface and their abundances. Additionally, the spacecraft has 2 systems that will enable the sample collection and return
~Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) – An articulated robotic arm with a sampler head to collect a sample of Bennu’s surface.
~OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule (SRC) – A capsule with a heat shield and parachutes in which the spacecraft will return the asteroid sample to Earth.
Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Lockheed Martin Space Systems built the spacecraft. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages New Frontiers for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For images, video, and more information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-prepares-to-launch-first-us-asteroid-sample-return-mission
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