Tag: United Launch Alliance
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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.…
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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…