NASA scientists are hoping the almost $1 billion mission will help them unravel how life began on Earth, how the solar system formed, and how to protect our planet from stray asteroids like Bennu.
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OSIRIS-REx is set to blast off on an Atlas V rocket – the same kind that carried the New Horizons probe that visited Pluto previous year – from Cape Canaveral, Fla., at 7:05 p.m Eastern.
There has never been an explorer like the one in the nosecone of the Atlas V rocket on the pad.
Japan already has visited an asteroid and returned some specks (the mission didn’t go quite as planned), and is chasing yet another space rock for even more samples.
“We’re talking about the formation of our Solar System”, explained Christina Richey, Nasa’s Osiris-Rex deputy programme scientist. So many things could go wrong, but this launch went according to plan.
It’s the biggest space project in Arizona history.
“We would need probably at least five years warning to 10 years warning to be able to launch an effective space mission to deflect that object”, Johnson said.
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is proud to be supporting NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in its objective to analyze and return the first-ever asteroid sample for the United States. Bennu is listed as one of the potentially hazardous asteroids that may impact the Earth in the coming years. The arrival phase at Bennu involves an array of thrusters to complete the complex task of modifying the spacecraft velocity and trajectory to perfectly match with that of Bennu. After a two year journey, this sample collection will take just five seconds.
As it approaches, the spacecraft will eject its sample return capsule, sending it tumbling to Earth, where it will be collected by NASA. The mother spacecraft, meanwhile, will continue its orbit of the sun.
In July 2020, OSIRIS-REx will reach out with an 11-foot robotic arm and attempt to collect a sample from the asteroid by blasting it with nitrogen gas to stir up rocks and dust. Scientists believe it may contain clues on whether carbon-rich asteroids contributed to life on Earth and elsewhere. “We’re going to be answering some of the most fundamental questions that Nasa works on”, said Nasa’s chief scientist, Ellen Stofan.
The University also led the mission to Mars that first discovered ice.
The craft is sitting on top of an Atlas V rocket, ready for launch.
NASA probe blasts off on quest to collect asteroid samples was posted in Sci-Tech of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on September 09, 2016 and was last updated on September 09, 2016. But only a portion of the spacecraft will make it back to solid ground. The spacecraft rolled out to the launch pad Wednesday.
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