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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Запуск аппарата "OSIRIS REx" http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1368902/eng |
Credit & Copyright: United Launch Alliance
Explanation:
Near sunset on Thursday, clear skies saw the
launch of
the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
Sporting a single solid rocket booster, its Atlas V vehicle
blasts off from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 in this
low, wide-angle view toward launch pad and setting Sun.
OSIRIS-REx is
bound for Bennu,
scheduled to
encounter
the mountain-sized asteroid in 2018.
First the spacecraft will swing back by home world planet
Earth though, for a
gravity
assist maneuver to boost it on its way.
After a detailed survey of Bennu
OSIRIS-REx will collect
a sample from the asteroid's surface in 2020 and bring it home,
returning to Earth in 2023.
If all goes well it will be the largest sample returned
by a space mission
since the Apollo era.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.