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Update: Launch successful.
NASA will launch the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft on Sept. 8. The spacecraft will attempt exploration and a sample return from the asteroid 101955 Bennu. It will arrive at Bennu in 2018 and map it before selecting a site for sample collection.
Bennu is thought to have formed soon after the sun, at around the same time as the solar system's planets. While the constant activity of volcanoes, earthquakes and erosion changed the chemistry of Earth's material since that time (as likely happened on other planets), Bennu remains virtually unmarred. A sample of the asteroid should therefore provide a time-capsule-like glimpse of the planets' youth, the researchers said.
[...] To complete its planned science objectives, OSIRIS-REx needs to collect a least a 2-ounce (60 grams) sample from Bennu. Once that material lands back on Earth, scientists will probe the sample with complex experiments that just aren't possible in space. [...] "This will be the largest sample-return mission since the Apollo era," said Christine Richey, OSIRIS-REx deputy program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The returned capsule will provide a bounty not only for today's scientists, but also for future generations, Richey said. Three-fourths of the sample will be archived for later study, allowing scientists to answer questions that haven't been thought of today, using instruments yet to be imagined.
Spaceflight Now has a page dedicated to providing updates on this flight: Live coverage: Thursday's Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal
[Continues...]
One item of note from Spaceflight Now:
The Atlas 5, designated AV-067, will be making its 65th flight since 2002 and flying for the fourth time in the particular 411 configuration with a single solid rocket booster. Stacking began Aug. 8. [Emphasis added.]
They also have a page with some great pics of the rocket and its roll out to the launch pad.
Ars Technica just published a story explaining the uniqueness of the launch configuration: Why tonight's launch of an asymmetric rocket is must-see TV — An Atlas V rocket with a single solid rocket booster has a unique launch profile.
Also at The New York Times , The Washington Post , and phys.org.
More details about the mission is available on the NASA website.
(Score: 2) by martyb on Thursday September 08 2016, @09:19PM
For those who want up-to-the-second information, the launch is being carried on NASA TV [nasa.gov].
From what I can tell by viewing the page source, the feed is SWF (flash), but I do not have flash installed. OTOH, I can play such files/streams/media using VLC. Would appreciate it if someone could post link(s) to the stream(s).
Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
(Score: 3, Funny) by richtopia on Thursday September 08 2016, @09:35PM
I tried a single booster in Kerbal Space Program like the Atlas V 411, and it always crashed.
I just want to save NASA from the trial and error procedure I've developed while playing KSP.
(Score: 5, Informative) by martyb on Thursday September 08 2016, @09:55PM
Hmmm? From the Ars Technica [arstechnica.com] link in TFS:
I would agree, however, that when referring to a rocket "well grounded" may not have been the best choice of words. =)
Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday September 09 2016, @07:26AM
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 2) by gidds on Friday September 09 2016, @12:45PM
What? Next, you'll be saying that this [xkcd.com] isn't true!
[sig redacted]
(Score: 2) by gidds on Friday September 09 2016, @12:50PM
Or this [xkcd.com]!
[sig redacted]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 09 2016, @10:28AM
'OSIRIS-REx' (Osiris the King)? Really, NASA?
Unlikely as it might sound to a lot of people, NASA hq is just a bunch of (quite lame and desperate) Sun worshiping clowns.
On the lighter side of things, once you are able to see through the deception and stop being pissed about, hilarity ensues! (both for someone into technology as well as someone into the occult) Example: NASA 'astronaut' hairsprayed hair inside the 'ISS' [youtu.be] as compared to hair behavior in real freefall [youtu.be] (kids these days, yes. But notice the hair).
Another year, another billion stolen. Well done, NASA! But your smoke and mirrors hoaxes are getting easier to see through, and less people are buying into them by the hour. Party's over!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 09 2016, @01:54PM
Numbnuts here has a poor comprehension of how hair spray works too! Maybe you need a girlfriend?