Tag: Atlas 5
-
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.…
-
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…
-
OSIRIS-REx reaches launch pad with money to spare
Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky The scientist in charge of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission hopes to apply more than $30 million in leftover funding toward reducing the risk of the probe’s touch-and-go maneuver to snag a piece of asteroid Bennu, then eventually hire more experts to analyze the…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
Video: Atlas/OSIRIS-REx pre-launch and mission science press briefings
Watch the pre-launch news conference from the Kennedy Space Center to preview the flight of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return spacecraft aboard a ULA Atlas 5 rocket on Sept. 8. The briefing participants are: Geoffrey Yoder, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of…
-
Preview: NASA craft launches Thursday seeking the seeds of life on asteroid
An artist’s concept of OSIRIS-REx at Asteroid Bennu. Credit: Lockheed Martin CAPE CANAVERAL — What began as a concept scribbled on a cocktail napkin in a Tucson bar 12 years ago — sending a spacecraft to an asteroid and retrieving a pristine sample to bring back to Earth for study — becomes reality Thursday with…
-
Weather forecast favorable for Atlas 5 to launch NASA asteroid probe Thursday
File photo of Atlas 5. Credit: United Launch Alliance CAPE CANAVERAL — Prognosticators are predicting favorable weather conditions to launch an Atlas 5 rocket Thursday and send NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on its interplanetary journey to interrogate an asteroid and collect a surface sample for return to Earth. The Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron at Cape…
-
Asteroid probe apparently unharmed in nearby SpaceX explosion, passes its FRR
The encapsulated OSIRIS-REx was lifted into the VIF on Monday. Credit: NASA-KSC/Dimitri Gerondidakis CAPE CANAVERAL — NASA says initial checks show no damage to the Atlas 5 rocket or the agency’s asteroid-bound OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that stood within the Vertical Integration Facility just a mile away from the SpaceX explosion Thursday. The United Launch Alliance vehicle…