Built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, the spacecraft measures 10.33 by 8 feet and will be powered in space by two solar panels generating 1,226 watts to 3,000 watts, depending on the distance from the sun. With both of its arrays deployed, the spacecraft extends to 20.25 feet long. Learn more about …
Countdown clocks just passed the T-1 hour mark and activities are proceeding smoothly. Tanking operations continue, and in case you missed it, Launch Weather Officer Clay Flinn has upgraded the forecast to reflect a 90 percent chance of "go" weather at the 7:05 p.m. liftoff time. Image from NASA TV
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket comprises a first-stage booster, a Centaur upper stage and a protective payload fairing that houses the spacecraft during the critical early minutes of flight. The Atlas V vehicle is available in several configurations, but the one poised to launch OSIRIS-REx is an Atlas V 411: it's topped by …
Spelled out in full, the name of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft hints at the many goals scientists envision for this mission: to map asteroid Bennu using 3-D laser imaging, retrieve samples from its surface and return those samples to Earth. "The mission name is an awesome acronym that describes our primary science objectives," said Dante Lauretta, …
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft — currently sealed inside the payload fairing of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket — is on track to leave Earth behind and kick off an ambitious voyage to asteroid Bennu. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. …
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. …
Check out the video below for an overview of the OSIRIS-REx mission! Also, if you're in the area, this page lists several of the most popular launch viewing locations.
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 …
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: …
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. …