14 DAY TRIAL // Officials with the American space agency announce that their Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) sample-return mission to the asteroid 101955 Bennu was just 999 days away from its launch on Monday, December 9.
Countdown for the mission began on Monday, at 7:43 pm EST (0043 GMT December 10), when the clock was set to 999 days. This period measures the time until the launch window opens for the spacecraft to launch.
Takeoff is scheduled to occur from Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), in Florida. NASA will launch OSIRIS-REx aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V delivery system, flying in the popular 401 configuration.
If the space agency is able to launch the spacecraft in September 2016, then the probe and its sample-return capsule will be able to meet up with Bennu in 2018. The capsule is scheduled to return to Earth, and land at the Utah Test and Training Range, in 2023.
The $800 million (€581 million) mission is led by investigators with the University of Arizona. Its main goal is to analyze a carbonaceous asteroid, and then return samples collected from its surface. These materials will then enable geologists to gain more insights into the history of the solar system.
“This is a pioneering effort, both technologically and scientifically. Starting the countdown clock carries a lot of symbolism for us. After December 9, we will have a constant reminder of the time remaining to send OSIRIS-REx on his quest to return a sample of asteroid Bennu,” says the principal investigator for the mission, UAT researcher Dante Lauretta.
“999 days seems a long time to get the spacecraft on the pad, but we know that time will pass quickly. There is a lot of work to do before our spacecraft begins its journey, and we have to be very disciplined to get everything done in time,” adds expert Mike Donnelly.
The scientist is the manager of the OSIRIS-REx project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in Greenbelt, Maryland.
OSIRIS-REx will be built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, in Denver. This is the third mission in the NASA New Frontiers program, which also includes the New Horizons spacecraft (currently on its way to Pluto) and the Juno probe, which is scheduled to enter orbit around Jupiter in August 2016.