Author Topic: LIVE: ULA Atlas V - OSIRIS-REx - Sept 8, 2016 (Asteroid Sample Return)  (Read 138279 times)

Online catdlr

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May 20, 2016
MEDIA ADVISORY M16-057
Launch of First U.S. Spacecraft to Sample Asteroid Set for September, NASA Media Accreditation Open

Credits: NASA/GSFC
NASA has opened accreditation for media to attend the September launch of the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid. NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to and collect surface material from the asteroid Bennu, and return it to Earth for study.

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sept. 8. The two-hour launch window opens at 7:05 p.m. EDT.

Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at Cape Canaveral and NASA’s neighboring Kennedy Space Center. Credentialing deadlines are as follows:

International news media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4:30 p.m. Aug. 5, for access to Cape Canaveral and Kennedy.
International news media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4:30 p.m., Aug. 23, for access to Kennedy only.
U.S. news media must apply by 4:30 p.m. Aug. 29.
All media accreditation requests should be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

International journalists must upload a scanned copy of their visa and passport or green card with their accreditation request. Media representatives must present two forms of unexpired, government identification to enter Kennedy. One form must include a photo, such as a passport or driver’s license.

Questions about accreditation may be addressed to Jennifer Horner at [email protected] or 321-867-6598. For additional information, contact Kennedy’s newsroom at 321-867-2468.

OSIRIS-REx will retrieve at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of surface material. Scientists suspect Bennu may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of the water and organic molecules that may have made their way to Earth.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta is the mission's principal investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft.

OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program. The agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the New Frontiers Program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Launch and countdown is managed at Kennedy.

For more information about the OSIRIS-REx Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

-end-
Tony De La Rosa, ...I'm no Feline Dealer!! I move mountains.  but I'm better known for "I think it's highly sexual." Japanese to English Translation.

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https://www.facebook.com/OSIRISREx/photos/pcb.912034698909354/912033488909475/?type=3&theater

The C-17 carrying OSIRIS-REx touched down at 7:20 pm EDT at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Earlier tonight, OSIRIS-REx arrived at its new temporary home: NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The crew carefully unloaded the spacecraft and raised it by forklift onto a truck, which carried it to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF). Tomorrow the team will uncrate OSIRIS-REx and prepare it for testing.
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Offline Jim

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https://www.facebook.com/OSIRISREx/photos/pcb.912034698909354/912033488909475/?type=3&theater

The C-17 carrying OSIRIS-REx touched down at 7:20 pm EDT at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Earlier tonight, OSIRIS-REx arrived at its new temporary home: NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The crew carefully unloaded the spacecraft and raised it by forklift onto a truck, which carried it to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF). Tomorrow the team will uncrate OSIRIS-REx and prepare it for testing.

Seen that container many time before.

Cassini propulsion system
MRO
Juno
Grail
Maven
Also it was used for Insight, and likely Phoenix

Offline Star One

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Jeff Foust –  ‏@jeff_foust

A different view of #OSIRISREx from earlier today, from a camera with better white balance:
1:54 p.m. - 21 May 2016

https://mobile.twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/734125276465004545

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Lockheed Martin Delivers NASA's OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft to Launch Site

23-May-2016 12:03 PM

Asteroid Sample Return Spacecraft Progressing Toward a September Launch 

DENVER ,  May 23, 2016  /PRNewswire/ --  NASA's  asteroid sampling spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, took an across-country journey of about 1,600 miles before it launches on its 509 million mile journey to the asteroid Bennu. On  May 20 ,  Lockheed Martin  (NYSE: LMT) delivered the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to the  Kennedy Space Center, Florida . The spacecraft will now undergo final processing in preparation for a September launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 rocket.

PHOTOS: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2016/may/space-orex-shipping.html

OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, is scheduled to launch on  Sept. 8, 2016 . The spacecraft's target is Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid that could hold clues to the origin of the solar system and host organic molecules that may have seeded life on Earth. It will collect at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) -- about the weight of a full-sized candy bar--of pristine asteroid material and return it to Earth for analysis.

 Lockheed Martin  designed, built and tested the spacecraft and is responsible for spacecraft launch processing and mission operations.

"Delivering OSIRIS-REx to the launch site marks an important milestone, one that's been many years in the making," said  Rich Kuhns , OSIRIS-REx program manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems. "The spacecraft has undergone a rigorous environmental test program in  Denver  but we still have plenty of work ahead of us. Many on our team have temporarily moved to  Florida  so they can continue final processing and have the spacecraft ready for launch in three and a half months."

The 1,980-pound (900 kg) spacecraft was shipped Friday on a  U.S. Air Force  cargo plane in an environmentally controlled container. The aircraft, with 30 support personnel onboard, took off from  Buckley Air Force Base  in  Aurora, Colorado  and touched down at  Kennedy Space Center's  Shuttle Landing Facility, on one of the largest runways in the world.

While at Kennedy, the spacecraft will undergo final testing and configuration for flight including a spin test, solar array release test, electrical system testing and propellant loading.

"I'm extremely proud of our team and excited to be shipping the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to  Kennedy Space Center ," said  Mike Donnelly , OSIRIS-REx project manager at  NASA's  Goddard Space Flight Center in  Greenbelt, Maryland . "We still have a few major milestones to go, but I'm confident that we'll get them done and be ready to launch on time and begin our mission to Bennu."

After launch, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will take two years to reach Bennu, arriving in late 2018. It will then spend over two years conducting surface mapping and sample site reconnaissance before collecting a sample in 2020. The spacecraft will return the pristine sample of Bennu back to Earth in 2023. 

"This team has done a phenomenal job assembling and testing the spacecraft," said  Dante Lauretta , principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx at the  University of Arizona ,  Tucson . "As we begin the final preparations for launch, I am confident that this spacecraft is ready to perform its science operations at Bennu. And I can't wait to fly it."

 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in  Greenbelt  provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. The   University of Arizona  leads the science team and observation planning and processing. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in  Denver  built the spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in  NASA's New Frontiers Program.  NASA's  Marshall Space Flight Center in  Huntsville, Alabama , manages New Frontiers for the agency's  Science Mission Directorate  in  Washington . Launch and countdown management is the responsibility of  NASA's   John F. Kennedy Space Center  in  Florida .

About  Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in  Bethesda, Maryland ,  Lockheed Martin  is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

For more information about the OSIRIS-REx mission:
•http://www.asteroidmission.org/
•http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/osiris-rex
•http://www.lockheedmartin.com/osirisrex
•VIDEO: Asteroids and the  OSIRIS-REx Mission ,
Jacques :-)

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Jacques :-)

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NASA infographic

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https://www.facebook.com/OSIRISREx/photos/a.180002168779281.37129.160193164093515/920297488083075/?type=3&theater

An action shot of OSIRIS-REx on the spin table in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Image courtesy: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/bennu-how-little-asteroid-became-rock-star

Bennu: How a Little Asteroid Became a Rock Star Formerly known as 1999 RQ36, the space rock was chosen by process of elimination as the destination for the UA-led OSIRIS-REx mission, which will pick up a sample of its regolith and return it to Earth for analysis. Launch is little more than two months away.

Robin Tricoles,
University Relations - Communications
June 29, 2016
Best quote heard during an inspection, "I was unaware that I was the only one who was aware."

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OSIRIS-REx Tech - Surveying an Asteroid with X-rays

NASA Goddard

Published on Jul 11, 2016
NASAs OSIRIS-REx mission launches in September 2016 and plans to return a sample of asteroid Bennu to Earth in 2023. This video profiles a student-built instrument aboard the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft called REXIS - the Regolith X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer. The purpose of REXIS is to collect and image fluorescent X-rays emitted by the asteroid, which will give scientists information regarding atomic elements that comprise it.



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Online catdlr

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OSIRIS-REx Tech – Surveying an Asteroid with Light

NASA Goddard

Published on Jul 25, 2016
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is on a mission explore to near-Earth asteroid Bennu, a carbon-rich body that may contain clues to the origins of life. OSIRIS-REx is equipped with a suite of technologies designed to map and study Bennu in unprecedented detail. The OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer, or OVIRS, will look at the asteroid's spectral signature to detect organics and other minerals. After OSIRIS-REx has thoroughly surveyed Bennu from orbit, will descend to the surface and collect a sample of the asteroid for return to Earth in 2023. In this video, OVIRS instrument scientists Dennis Reuter and Amy Simon discuss the challenges and rewards of sending a spectrometer into deep space.



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Asteroid Sampler Comm System Checks Complete
Posted on June 30, 2016 at 10:12 am by Steven Siceloff.

source:  https://blogs.nasa.gov/osiris-rex/2016/06/30/asteroid-sampler-comm-system-checks-comet/

Quote
A spacecraft designed to sample an asteroid and return that sample to Earth will depend greatly on its communications systems with Earth to relay everything from its health and status to scientific findings from making a detailed survey of the asteroid known as Bennu. That’s why engineers from NASA’s Deep Space Network spent the past couple of weeks performing detailed tests of the various communications systems on the OSIRIS-REx spaceraft.

More than a simple on-off evaluation, the tests call for analyses that simulate the millions of miles of distance that signals from the spacecraft will have to traverse to reach the gigantic antennas of the Deep Space Network placed in California, Spain and Canberra, Australia. With dishes measuring up to 230 feet in diameter, the Earthbound communications network is geared to pick up faint transmissions from probes that are exploring the solar system.

The recent tests were completed inside a long, single-story building at Kennedy known as MIL-71. Its name harkens back to the time when Kennedy was known as the Merritt Island Launch Annex, or MILA. Communications systems allow only three letters, so it was shortened the MIL. In much the same way, the asteroid sampling mission called OSIRIS-REx by its management is known in Deep Space Network and communications circles by its own three-letter acronym, ORX.

It takes a roomful of specialized gear to perform the testing which calls for simulating the vast distances of space though the spacecraft and instruments are in buildings next door to each other. The team heads back to California soon to apply their work to the system and get ready to use it for launch.

They won’t know until about 20 minutes after liftoff whether their testing was performed correctly and the spacecraft will effectively communicate with Earth. It is around that time that the OSIRIS-REx will separate from the upper stage of the Atlas V rocket. Assuming they get a signal like they expect, the spacecraft will unfurl its solar arrays and head for the asteroid, keeping Earth updated to the progress throughout its journey.

About OSIRIS-REx
The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer spacecraft will travel to a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36), and bring at least a 2.1-ounce sample back to Earth for study. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to launch Sept. 8, 2016, at 7:05 p.m. EDT. As planned, the spacecraft will reach its asteroid target in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta is the mission's principal investigator at the University of Arizona. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver is building the spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages New Frontiers for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Download the OSIRIS Rex Fact Sheet:
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/osiris_rex_factsheet5-9.pdf

Photo credit: NASA/ Dimitri Gerondidakis
« Last Edit: 07/25/2016 02:56 pm by catdlr »
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The Centaur upper stage of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket arrives at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch vehicle will boost the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Targeted for liftoff Sept. 8, 2016, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Photo credit: NASA/Cory Auston
Jacques :-)

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https://www.facebook.com/OSIRISREx/photos/pcb.954386318007525/954384828007674/?type=3&theater

The OSIRIS-REx payload fairing, which will hold the spacecraft when it is positioned atop the rocket for launch, has arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
« Last Edit: 07/28/2016 04:38 pm by jacqmans »
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August 01, 2016
RELEASE 16-092

NASA Offers Media Access to View Asteroid-Bound Spacecraft

Media will have an opportunity to photograph NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft and interview mission officials at 8 a.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 20, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. OSIRIS-REx will be the first U.S. mission to sample the surface of an asteroid and return the sample to Earth.

There will be three opportunities to photograph the spacecraft. Buses will depart the Kennedy Press Site at 8 and 11:30 a.m., and again at 2:30 p.m., for transportation to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF). Due to space restrictions, only two representatives from each media organization will be allowed to participate, and no more than 15 participants may sign up for each of the three viewing opportunities.

All media must RSVP for this event no later than Monday, Aug. 15 by emailing Jennifer Horner at [email protected] and specifying a preferred viewing time.

Media requiring access credentials for Kennedy should apply online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

The deadline for U.S. citizens to apply is Aug. 15. International media must apply by 4:30 p.m. Aug. 9.

Media credentials must be picked up between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, at the Kennedy Badging Office, located on State Road 405, east of the Kennedy Visitor Complex. Two forms of government-issued identification are required, including one with a photograph, such as a driver’s license or passport.

Media Access Instructions

Please read access instructions carefully to avoid being denied entry to the clean room after arrival at the PHSF.

OSIRIS-REx has a science requirement to bring back to Earth a “pristine sample.”  In order to do so, strict contamination control protocols must be followed. Since part of the investigation is to determine whether organics are present on the asteroid, the mission adopted a stringent prohibition against any material with amino acids. Therefore, nothing made of or containing nylon can be permitted in the PHSF high bay.

Long pants and closed-toe shoes must be worn. No tank tops, shorts or skirts will be permitted. Procedures for optically sensitive spacecraft must be followed by individuals entering the clean-room where the spacecraft is being prepared for launch. Full clean-room attire must be worn and will be furnished.  Attendees may not wear perfume, cologne, hair spray, nail polish or makeup. Those wearing makeup will be required to remove it prior to entry.

Photographers will need to clean camera equipment under the supervision of contamination control specialists. All camera equipment must be self-contained; no portable lights will be allowed. Non-essential equipment, such as suede, leather or vinyl camera bags, carrying cases, camera straps, accessories with Velcro and selfie sticks must be left outside the clean room. No notebook paper, pencils or click-type ball point pens are permitted; clean-room paper will be provided.

Use of wireless microphones and cellular telephones will be permitted if not contained in external cases or holding devices. Electronic flash will be permitted. The lighting in the facility is high-pressure sodium (orange). 

No food, chewing gum, tobacco, lighters, matches or pocketknives will be allowed and so should not be brought to the PHSF.

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to launch at 7:05 p.m. Sept. 8 from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 41 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The spacecraft will travel to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu to survey the surface, then retrieve at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The spacecraft will rendezvous with the asteroid in 2018. The sample return is planned in 2023.

NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is the provider of the Atlas V launch service.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations after launch. Dante Lauretta, of the University of Arizona, is the mission’s principal investigator.

OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages New Frontiers for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about the OSIRIS-REx mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex
Jacques :-)

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Correct me if I'm wrong; the Centaur stage that will be used for the OSIRIS-REx mission will be fitted with the RL-10A-4-2 engine instead of the RL-10C-1 engine...
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Asteroid-Bound Spacecraft and its Ride Take Strides Toward September Launch
Posted on August 5, 2016 at 3:10 pm by Anna Heiney
https://blogs.nasa.gov/osiris-rex/2016/08/05/asteroid-bound-spacecraft-and-its-ride-take-strides-toward-september-launch/

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft – and the rocket that will carry it into space, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V – are making significant strides toward launch, planned for Sept. 8.

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians have installed thermal blankets around the spacecraft (pictured above), culminating with a solar array illumination test today. These activities set the stage for spacecraft closeouts, weighing and fueling, planned for next week.

The Atlas V rocket is coming together across the Banana River at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The vehicle’s Centaur upper stage arrived July 21 (center photo), and the first-stage booster followed on July 29. Both elements currently are in the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center. The rocket’s booster, solid rocket motor and Centaur upper stage are slated to be assembled Aug. 8 through 10 in the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41.

OSIRIS-REx will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. Analysis of the sample will reveal the history of the asteroid, called Bennu, over the past 4.5 billion years.

Photo credits: NASA/Michelle Stone (top), NASA/Cory Huston (center) and NASA/Kim Shiflett

(Captions)
OSIRIS-REx Thermal Blanket Closeout
Atlas V AV-67 Stage Arrivals for OSIRIS-REx Launch
OSIRIS-REx Centaur Second Stage Arrival, ASOC
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Buildup of unusual launcher begins for NASA’s asteroid sample return mission

Quote
It is a rocket like no other, a vehicle with a single solid-fuel booster mounted to its side, that will launch NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe next month to bring back a sample of Asteroid Bennu.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in the unique 411 configuration, which has successfully flown three times before, is scheduled for liftoff Sept. 8.

Stacking of the vehicle aboard the mobile launch platform began with the first stage this morning at Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility at Complex 41 for the much-anticipated mission.

The lone solid will be attached tomorrow and the pre-assembled interstage, Centaur upper stage and boattail will be lifted into place on Wednesday.

Initial powerup of the rocket occurs on Thursday and the Combined Systems Test, which is the critical electrical checkout of the vehicle, will follow next Monday, Aug. 15.

“From Monday to Monday, we should have the entire mechanical stack complete and the initial power sequence coupled with the Combined Systems Test. So it’s going to go pretty quick,” said Tim Dunn, NASA’s launch director for OSIRIS-REx from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Services Program.

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/08/08/buildup-of-unusual-launcher-begins-for-nasas-asteroid-sample-return-mission/

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