On Sept. 8, the $800 million OSIRIS-REx spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41, aiming to reach an asteroid that is millions of miles away.
The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer spacecraft was launched into space through the 189-foot-tall Atlas V rocket spacecraft to begin making its way to asteroid Bennu.
Every six years, Bennu, a potentially dangerous asteroid that is also a near-Earth object, crosses our planet's orbit. Between 2175 and 2199, the asteroid has a 0.037 percent chance of hitting the Earth, but officials say it is not large enough to be an existential threat to humans.
"We're not talking about an asteroid that could destroy the Earth," explained chief scientist Dante Lauretta.
While only a little more than 50 percent of NEOs of Bennu's size are known, NASA makes clear the technology necessary for tracking down these objects is still in the early stages.
The mission also won't be about shattering asteroids.
Tim Dunn, launch manager at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, called it a "fantastic asteroid-retrieval mission" at a media briefing.
The OSIRIS-REx mission will be flying 4.5 billion miles (7.2 billion kilometers) to reach the asteroid and bring back some material from the rock surface. Expected to arrive at the asteroid by 2018, the OSIRIS-REx will return to Earth in 2023 as NASA's debut mission in bringing asteroid samples.
"We're going to an asteroid that represents the first building blocks of the planets in our solar system," said Lauretta.
The OSIRIS-REx Launch
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.
A post-launch press conference was held by officials of NASA and United Launch Alliance by 9 p.m.
According to Clay Flinn, the launch officiator at Cape Canaveral, there was initially some concern about the presence of cumulus clouds in the Atlantic Ocean moving west.
In Arizona, there was a festive mood. The documentary OSIRIS-REx: Countdown to Launch, produced by Arizona Public Media, went on air at 6:30 p.m. and showed NASA footage of the launch.
The OSIRIS-REx launch will help researchers:
• Track the orbit of Bennu
• Study the forces that control the path of asteroids
• Achieve new insights into resources contained in space rocks
• Get carbonaceous material to look into the early solar system and find clues on the origin of life on Earth.
Photo: Lockheed Martin | Flickr
