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,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLz1CeBKb7M
Media Contact:
Gary Napier, +1 (303) 971-4012;
gary.p.napier@lmco.com
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin