Suggested Searches

OSIRIS-REX (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security - Regolith Explorer)

    Tanking in Progress

    Propellants are being loaded into the Atlas V rocket, a process known as tanking. It begins with chilldown of the ground equipment and transfer lines prior to the flow of supercool, cryogenic propellants. The Atlas booster's single RD-180 engine uses 48,860 gallons of liquid oxygen, or LOX, in combination with a refined kerosene fuel called RP-1. …

    Read Full Post

    Launch Day for OSIRIS-REx

    OSIRIS-REx rollout to the Pad 41 for the upcoming launch.

    Forecasters from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron continue to predict an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions for launch of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 7:05 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in …

    Read Full Post

    On the Pad at Space Launch Complex 41

    OSIRIS-REx rollout to the Pad 41 for the upcoming launch.

    The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket made the trek from the Vertical Integration Facility to Space Launch Complex 41 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Wednesday. Atop the rocket, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is sealed in the protective payload fairing. Liftoff is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 8 at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Photo credit: …

    Read Full Post

    How Were OSIRIS-REx and Atlas V Prepped for Flight?

    NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will be boosted into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. OSIRIS-REx stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer. The U.S.'s first mission to sample an asteroid, OSIRIS-REx will travel to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. …

    Read Full Post

    OSIRIS-REx NASA Social, Asteroid Briefing to be Televised

    The forecast for launch of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft remains 80 percent "go" atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 7:05 p.m. EDT Thursday from Space Launch Complex 41 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Today, NASA will air two OSIRIS-REx events on NASA TV. Social …

    Read Full Post

    Televised Briefings Today; Forecast Favors Thursday Launch

    Launch week has arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is slated to lift off Thursday, Sept. 8, sending the agency's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to the asteroid Bennu. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41. Learn more about this ambitious mission. Forecasters …

    Read Full Post

    Teams Rehearse OSIRIS-REx Launch Countdown

    The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, enclosed in a payload fairing, is positioned atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Aug. 29, 2016

    Launch and mission controllers are at their consoles this afternoon in a dress rehearsal for the upcoming launch of NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Goddard Space Flight Center, United Launch Alliance and Lockheed Martin all are participating in today's test. OSIRIS-REx is sealed inside …

    Read Full Post

    OSIRIS-REx Passes Flight Readiness Review

    Launch and mission officials gathered this morning for the OSIRIS-REx Flight Readiness Review and concluded that there are no issues or concerns that would preclude continuing to target launch next Thursday, Sept. 8. Liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is planned for 7:05 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 on Florida's …

    Read Full Post

    Asteroid Sampler Placed Atop Atlas V for Launch

    OSIRIS-REx being transported from the PHSF to the VIF at Pad 41, then lifted to the Atlas V vehicle in preparation for launch.

    The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was lifted into the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 and bolted into place on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V on Monday. The spacecraft, enclosed in a protective fairing, is to liftoff aboard the rocket on Sept. 8 to begin its mission to survey an asteroid called Bennu and …

    Read Full Post