Tonight’s launch window opens at 7:05 p.m. EDT, one hour from now. All activities are on schedule for liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 rocket carrying NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 41.
Built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, the spacecraft measures 10.33 by 8 feet and will be powered in space by two solar panels generating 1,226 watts to 3,000 watts, depending on the distance from the sun. With both of its arrays deployed, the spacecraft extends to 20.25 feet long. Learn more about …
Countdown clocks just passed the T-1 hour mark and activities are proceeding smoothly. Tanking operations continue, and in case you missed it, Launch Weather Officer Clay Flinn has upgraded the forecast to reflect a 90 percent chance of “go” weather at the 7:05 p.m. liftoff time. Image from NASA TV
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket comprises a first-stage booster, a Centaur upper stage and a protective payload fairing that houses the spacecraft during the critical early minutes of flight. The Atlas V vehicle is available in several configurations, but the one poised to launch OSIRIS-REx is an Atlas V 411: it’s topped by …
Spelled out in full, the name of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft hints at the many goals scientists envision for this mission: to map asteroid Bennu using 3-D laser imaging, retrieve samples from its surface and return those samples to Earth. “The mission name is an awesome acronym that describes our primary science objectives,” said Dante Lauretta, …
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft — currently sealed inside the payload fairing of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket — is on track to leave Earth behind and kick off an ambitious voyage to asteroid Bennu. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. …
Propellants are being loaded into the Atlas V rocket, a process known as tanking. It begins with chilldown of the ground equipment and transfer lines prior to the flow of supercool, cryogenic propellants. The Atlas booster’s single RD-180 engine uses 48,860 gallons of liquid oxygen, or LOX, in combination with a refined kerosene fuel called RP-1. …
Biomolecule Sequencer (BMS) Sample Analysis: Yesterday, the crew initiated the third BMS sample off of the task list. Following retrieval of the Flow Cell and Media Syringe Tube from the from Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) and thawing of the sample, the crew injected the sample into the Flow Cell and …
Check out the video below for an overview of the OSIRIS-REx mission! Also, if you’re in the area, this page lists several of the most popular launch viewing locations.
As one crew gets used to Earth’s gravity after 172 days in space, another crew is preparing to launch to the International Space Station in just over two weeks. Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams arrived in the United States just 24 hours after landing Tuesday evening in Kazakhstan and completing his mission. His Expedition 48 …
