Tag: NASA
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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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NASA’s Jeff Williams sets record as he and space station crewmates return to Earth
NASA astronaut Jeff Williams waves to the camera after coming out of the Soyuz capsule he rode down to Earth from the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA TV) NASA astronaut Jeff Williams returned to Earth from the International Space Station in the company of two Russian cosmonauts tonight, setting a U.S. spaceflight record in 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.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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NASA gives go-ahead to fix Mars InSight lander’s flaw and launch it in 2018
An artist’s conception shows NASA’s InSight lander on Mars. The SEIS instrument is in the chamber shown to the left of the lander platform. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech) NASA has approved plans to fix a flaw on its InSight lander in time for a launch to Mars in 2018. The flaw involves a leak in a…
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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…
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Animation of OSIRIS-REx mission from liftoff to return home
This NASA animation depicts the OSIRIS-REx mission beginning with liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Sept. 8, embarking on a voyage to rendezvous and orbit Asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft will use its cameras, laser and spectrometer instruments to map the mountain-size rock starting in late 2018 before performing…