The name OSIRIS-REx is an acronym for the spacecraft’s mission objectives: Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer. For two years it will chase the asteroid.
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After gathering at least 60 grams of material, Osiris-Rex will fly back to Earth.
Osiris-Rex will return to orbit the Earth, releasing the sample to return to the planet by parachute to a Utah landing site in December 2020.
The video below outlines the OSIRIS-REx mission. OSIRIS-REx is embarking on a mission to Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid that scientists think might hold clues about the origins of our solar system. Scientists believe that asteroids of this type were the source of water and organic molecules for early Earth and other planets.
A live webcast of the OSIRIS-REx launch also began at 4:30 p.m. ET on NASA TV sometime after the loading of cryogenic fuel to the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
The robotic spacecraft took off on top of an Atlas Five rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida in the early hours of the morning.
In case everything goes as planned then OSIRIS-REx will meet Bennu, a 1,640-foot-wide asteroid, in August 2018, collect some dirt and pieces off the space rock a couple of years later and bring back home the cosmic sample in September 2023. But the mission’s main goal is for OSIRIS-REx to “kiss” the asteroid’s surface, suck up a small container of material and bring it back to scientists on Earth.
In this real life story, OSIRIS-REx will study and sample Bennu, a big, roundish space rock that has made it onto NASA’s list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids.
“It’s satisfying to see the culmination of years of effort from this outstanding team”, said OSIRIS-REx project manager Dr. Mike Donnelly, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. After the sample retrieval, OSIRIS-REx will jettison a 100-pound capsule – identical to one NASA’s Stardust mission used to bring back comet dust – that will plunge into Earth’s atmosphere at 27,000 miles per hour.
After the launch, Lockheed Martin will have command and control of the craft.
The University also led the mission to Mars that first discovered ice.
For many there, it was a great moment knowing Arizona is helping to push NASA into a new frontier of space exploration. “Humanity has never ever been able to touch, taste, and explore a primitive object like asteroids like Bennu”, said NASA Chief Scientist Dr. Paul Garvin.
The mission aims to chart the path of Bennu, as well as demonstrate advanced imaging and mapping techniques that will be needed for future science missions and upcoming asteroid mining expeditions.
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Bennu swings by Earth every six years, and 150 years from now, could hit us. It will again cross Earth in 2023.
