Lokheed

Aerospace company Lockheed Martin has delivered Nasa’s OSIRIS-Rex asteroid sampling spacecraft to its launch site at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US.

Following the delivery, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) spacecraft will undergo final processing in preparation for its scheduled launch in September.

To be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 rocket, OSIRIS-Rex’s final testing and flight configuration includes a electrical system testing and propellant loading, spin test and solar array release test.

The spacecraft travelled nearly 1,600m across the country before it launches on its 509 million mile journey to its targeted asteroid, Bennu, which could contain organic molecules that may have seeded life on Earth and hold clues to the origin of the solar system.

Lockheed Martin designed, built and tested the 900kg spacecraft, and is responsible for its launch processing and mission operations.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems OSIRIS-REx programme manager Rich Kuhns said: "The spacecraft has undergone a rigorous environmental test programme 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."

Once launched, OSIRIS-REx will require two years to reach Bennu, arriving in late 2018. It will subsequently conduct surface mapping and sample site reconnaissance for over two years before collecting a sample in 2020.

"The spacecraft has undergone a rigorous environmental test programme in Denver but we still have plenty of work ahead of us."

OSIRIS-REx expects to return the sample of Bennu back to Earth in 2023.

Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, US, 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 of OSIRIS-Rex, which is the third mission in Nasa’s New Frontiers Programme.

The Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, are also involved in the mission.


Image: OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft will now go through final processing in preparation for its scheduled launch in September. Photo: courtesy of Lockheed Martin Corporation.