Notes

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) is a planned NASA asteroid study and sample return mission. OSIRIS-REx will travel to a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu and bring a small sample back to Earth for study. The mission is scheduled to launch Sept. 8, 2016, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. As planned, the spacecraft will reach Bennu in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023.OSIRIS-REx is going to Bennu.OSIRIS-REx OSIRIS-REx mission graphic Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer Phase: Development Launch Date: September 2016 Mission Project Home Page Secondary Project Page Program(s):New Frontiers Pin it NASA will launch a spacecraft to an asteroid in 2016 and use a robotic arm to pluck samples that could better explain our solar system's formation and how life began. The mission, called Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth. After traveling three years, OSIRIS-REx will approach the primitive, near Earth asteroid designated 1999 RQ36 in 2018. Once within three miles of the asteroid, the spacecraft will begin six months of comprehensive surface mapping. The science team then will pick a location from where the spacecraft's arm will take a sample. The spacecraft gradually will move closer to the site, an 20.25 ft (6.2 m) with solar panels deployed

Width: 8 ft (2.4 m) x 8 ft (2.4 m)

Height: 10.33 ft (3.2 m)

TAGSAM Length: 11 ft (3.4 m)

Dry Mass (unfueled): 1,940 lbs (880 kg)

Wet Mass (fueled): 4,650 lbs (2,110 kg)

Power: Two solar panels totaling 91 ft² (8.5 m²) generate between 1,226 and 3,000 watts, depending on the spacecraft’s distance from the Sun.

Payload: Five science instruments, the TAGSAM, and the SRC allow the spacecraft to gather data, collect a sample, and safely return it to Earth.