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 Atlas 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 WIKIApophis 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.
The first asteroid sample collected in space and brought to Earth by the United States will be unveiled at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Wednesday, Oct. 11, and media accreditation is now open.
Media are invited to Utah’s western desert on Wednesday, Aug. 30, to learn about NASA preparations and readiness to receive America’s first asteroid sample collected in space.