Tag: Asteroid Bennu
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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe moonlights as asteroid sleuth
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will undertake a search for Earth-Trojan asteroids while on its outbound journey to the asteroid Bennu. Earth Trojans are asteroids that share an orbit with Earth while remaining near a stable point 60 degrees in front of or behind the planet. Credit: University of Arizona/Heather Roper On course to collect specimens from…
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Video: Post-launch news conference
An hour after OSIRIS-REx separated from the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its trajectory to Asteroid Bennu, officials from NASA, the University of Arizona, ULA and Lockheed Martin held the post-launch news conference from Kennedy Space Center. See earlier OSIRIS-REx coverage. Our Atlas archive.
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Video: NASA mission launched to return sample of asteroid
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 189 feet tall and and weighing 840,000 pounds, unleashes 1.2 million pounds of thrust from its main engine and one side-mounted booster at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT) Thursday to launch NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to Asteroid Bennu. See earlier OSIRIS-REx coverage. Our Atlas archive.
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OSIRIS-REx probe launched to asteroid in compelling search for the origins of life
CAPE CANAVERAL — Like reaching back in time to examine the conditions that existed in the ancient solar system, NASA has launched a robotic probe to visit Asteroid Bennu and return an unspoiled sample of the primitive body that may hold the seeds of life. “We’re going to an asteroid that represents the first building…
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Photos: Spectacular sunset launch of asteroid mission
Sending the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on an interplanetary trajectory to Asteroid Bennu, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket thunders away from Cape Canaveral Thursday at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT). Credit: United Launch Alliance See earlier OSIRIS-REx coverage. Our Atlas archive.
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Photos: Atlas 5 rocket rolls out to launch asteroid sampling probe
Poised to embark on a 7-year adventure to Asteroid Bennu and back, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample return spacecraft was moved to the launch pad today aboard its Atlas 5 rocket for liftoff Thursday evening. The United Launch Alliance vehicle, equipped with a single strap-on solid-propellant booster for added performance, is scheduled for liftoff at 7:05 p.m.…
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Photos: Asteroid probe encapsulated, mounted atop Atlas 5 for launch
Technicians inched the two halves of the Atlas 5’s aluminum nose cone around NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to package the asteroid sample return probe, then moved the satellite to the rocket’s assembly building and hoisted it aboard the two-stage booster during the final days of August for the Sept. 8 launch. The United Launch Alliance rocket…
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Photos: OSIRIS-REx on pad to begin voyage to Bennu and back
Headed to a relic from the solar system’s formation over four billion years ago, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample return craft was moved to Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad today in preparation for liftoff Thursday aboard an Atlas 5 rocket en route to Asteroid Bennu hoping to find the seeds of life. Credit: NASA See earlier…
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Atlas 5/OSIRIS-REx launch timeline
Follow the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad to send NASA’s OSIRIS-REx on an interplanetary trajectory to intercept Asteroid Bennu and bring back a pristine sample. Launch is scheduled for Thursday at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT). (Editor’s note: Times will vary slightly depending on when liftoff occurs during the…
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Atlas 5 rocket cleared to launch NASA probe to Asteroid Bennu
An Atlas 5-411 will launch OSIRIS-REx. Credit: United Launch Alliance CAPE CANAVERAL — Mission leaders Tuesday gave approval for rollout of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket to its pad on Wednesday morning, leading to liftoff Thursday evening of a NASA probe to rendezvous with an asteroid and bring a sample back to Earth.…