The Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS REx) mission will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth and will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.
Atlas V with 4m fairing, 1 SRB, 1 Centaur upper stage engine.
See DetailsUnited Launch Alliance (ULA) is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. ULA was formed in December 2006 by combining the teams at these companies which provide spacecraft launch services to the government of the United States. ULA launches from both coasts of the US. They launch their Atlas V vehicle from LC-41 in Cape Canaveral and LC-3E at Vandeberg. Their Delta IV launches from LC-37 at Cape Canaveral and LC-6 at Vandenberg.
INFO WIKIScientists have eagerly awaited the opportunity to dig into the 4.3-ounce (121.6-gram) pristine asteroid Bennu sample collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explor…
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has been immortalized at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington as the latest awardee of the Robert J. Collier Trophy. Bestowed annually by the National Aeronautic Association, the trophy re…
Apophis is an asteroid that needs little introduction. Some asteroids may be familiar even to laypersons, such as Bennu, Ryugu, and Didymos; these asteroids have been visited by spacecraft relatively recently and are well-studied. Apophis …
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule encountered a glitch with a small parachute known as a drogue chute when it failed to deploy as anticipated during OSIRIS-REx's landing.
The drogue parachute on the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule failed to deploy properly because of a design error, a flaw that did not prevent a safe landing of the capsule.