Saw this news article today:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...th-osiris-rq36/

And didn't see a thread on this mission. There was a passing reference or two to it, and a mention here:
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...310#entry161310

Of this:
http://futureplanets.blogspot.com/search/l...roid%20Proposal

Which I guess I missed on vjkane's blog.

Well, we'll be hearing a lot more about this mission now.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/fea...osiris-rex.html

Even though it was awe inspiring, I hope there is a lot less drama with this mission than there was with Hayabusa.

A new mission is announced the very same day Spirit officially ends her.
Makes me feel a bit less sad.

It was kind of...suggestive...that this was going to be the choice when the NF-4 mission options in the Decadal Survey included Osiris-Rex's two competitors but not Osiris itself.

The asteroid will be a getting a new name eventually, right? Any details on how/when they will choose one?

I think the planetary society will be involved.

Edit: Yes, they will be involved in the naming of the asteroid http://planetary.org/blog/article/00003047/

I vote to name it "Spirit".

What's the propulsion system? Solar-Electric Ion? I hunted and hunted, but I couldn't find anything. Given the length of the trip, that seems like the best bet, but does anyone know for sure?

--Greg

Look at the animation. It quite clearly has conventional chemical prop. The delta V requirements are not huge - this asteroid's orbit is really remarkably similar to the Earths. It's just a timing issue that defines the mission duration.

http://uanews.org/files/osiris-rex/OSIRIS-REx_Factsheet.pdf

An asteroid has already been named after Spirit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/37452_Spirit

Yes, we were quite fortunate in the selection (or maybe I should say the public was fortunate ). We were involved in lots of the original NF proposals but I know we weren't on all of the final 3. On this one we had a deeper involvement than most. It'll be a while before the public involvement aspects of this mission take shape, but there should be a lot of fun stuff.

"MER 2" then.

Or MER-A

Or maybe Murray?

the OSIRIS-REx mission now has a good, informative website
http://osiris-rex.lpl.arizona.edu/index.html

The Atlas 5 rocket, in a very unusual single strap-on configuration (which has successfully flown before), has been selected to be the launch vehicle for OSIRIS-REX.

Spaceflight Now article

Also, might mention some months old news that the asteroid has been named, as reported by the Planetary Society here:

Emily's blog

Now's the chance to send you name to Bennu and back:

http://www.planetary.org/get-involved/messages/bennu/

Also, is there any reason the solar panels are tilted the way they are? Some of the concept art shows them more traditionally perpendicular to the sun, while others don't (when its shown doing the sampling). Is it in case Bennu looks like Itokawa, and there's a chance the panels could hit a boulder?

My guess is that the blast of nitrogen gas that blows sample up and into the collectors may also blow material up and into the arrays.

http://www.msss.com/news/index.php?id=118

Those are going to be some beautiful images - congrats to the MSSS team on being selected!

Congratulations!

Since we're just contractors on this mission I can't say anything about it, but if you look at the image of the spacecraft forward deck in http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs...-structure.html you can see the two Navcams and the Stowcam -- they look like little goblets with their baffles.

NASA Invites Public to Submit Messages for Asteroid Mission Time Capsule

Topics for submissions by the public should be about solar system exploration in 2014 and predictions for space exploration activities in 2023. The mission team will choose 50 tweets and 50 images to be placed in the capsule. Messages can be submitted Sept. 2 - 30.

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/september/n...e/#.VAYBEfldWa8

This is an informative page about OREx operations. https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal...ns/o/osiris-rex

Great link; thanks.

Imaging at a rate of one frame per second during the collection; now that's going to fill the old swear jar watching the NASA TV coverage...



Finally, an answer to my unspoken question about why different illustrations show them in different positions; I knew the graphics folks are too good to be inconsistent.

Didn't warrant a mention at http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs...ience-deck.html but if you look at the last image in that post, you can see one of the MSSS cameras (Stowcam) on its raised bracket in front of PolyCam.

First stage issues on recent Atlas V ISS resupply may have potential impacts to O-Rex.

There are three Atlas V launches on the manifest before OREx, so it's a little early to worry about this. Worst-case, my understanding is that OREx has a backup launch window in 2017, but obviously using it would be very undesirable for cost reasons.

Not true. Spacecraft shipment to the launch site is less than 6 weeks.

I presume you're saying it's "not true" that it's early to worry about this. The Atlas launch manifest is a matter of public record. Next launch is MUOS-5, which was slipped from 5 May to 12 May for the OA6 anomaly investigation. I wouldn't expect that week to ripple forward all the way to OREx. http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organiza...muos-5-mission/

If you have an actual source of information that says this is a concern, post it. The spacecraft won't be mated to the LV until about a week/10 days before launch if the Juno experience is any guide.

BTW, http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=39920.0 is the best source of information on the Atlas anomaly that I'm aware of.

Here is a story just out for the Atlas problem: Spaceflight Now - Narrowing list of suspects



Also from the same website is their reported Launch Schedule, which shows Osiris-REX sitting comfortably at September 8th behind three other Atlas 5 launches (and as an aside Bepi-Colombo just got added to their list for January).

I'd really like to see this launch. It's going to have one single solid strap-on. Don't see that often.

I would not recommend googling for it.

LOL - I see what you mean.

SpaceflightNow is not up to date. BepiColombo was silently postponed to a launch in early 2018.

Next Atlas launch went indefinite.

Looks like SBIRS GEO-3 will be leap frogging over O-REX to help preserve its launch period.

MSSS TAGCAMS Camera System Performs Well in Thermal/Vacuum Test

http://www.msss.com/news/index.php?id=124

Todays Atlas V launch went perfect. Had more solid boosters and engine restarts to worry about than Osiris_REX will have.

The launch of OSIRIS-REX went perfectly. The spacecraft has deployed and is now on its way to Bennu.

Update: Confirmation that both solar panels have deployed.

Kind of surprised that this thread is so quiet. Anyway, thought you all might be interested in this report from an emergency response commander in the 45th Space Wing, writing about the SpaceX explosion (cough, deflagration) that occurred just days before the ORex launch:

"No sooner had we accomplished the securing of the pumps when I was approached by another one of our range users who explained they were losing pressure on the chillers at a neighboring launch complex. Without those chillers the spacecraft for the next launch would be lost. Needless to say at this point I had to reestablish our priorities and get a team working on a way to get our IRT into Space Launch Complex 41 to allow access for technicians to enter in order to make the necessary repairs. As we were reviewing the plan, word came in from Pad 41 that all of the pressures were lost and technicians had to get to the spacecraft immediately. This is a situation when good working relationships with our counterparts at Kennedy Space Center came into play. We were able to coordinate with the KSC EOC for access through their roadblocks and get the required support to the spacecraft in plenty of time to not only save the spacecraft, but to keep the planned launch on schedule. "

Yikes!

http://www.patrick.af.mil/News/Commentarie...e-eastern-range

Wow. Thanks for sharing that! I'm not clear on what those chillers were chilling and why it threatened OSIRIS-REX...?

My interpretation was this was for the pad air conditioning. Losing A/C could cause contamination concerns but "losing the spacecraft" seems a little overdramatic to me.

First light images: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/o...t-status-update

It's full of stars...

http://www.asteroidmission.org/wp-content/...tember2016.jpeg


No stars are visible because 1) the exposure time was too short to see any, and 2) Stowcam is focused on the SRC and stars would be way out of focus.

Oh, and thanks for the image credit.

Pretty!
Images from a spacecraft showing both part of itself and the background of space are always so cool to me, and I imagine many others. Philae's image of the Rosetta solar panels with 67P (or Mars) in the background was emblematic of the whole mission. Can't wait for Bennu to make a background cameo...

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/n...-rare-asteroids

Looks like a search for Earth trojans is going to be done in February during the trip to Bennu (can the thread title be changed with the new name?)

Admin- Yep! Done.

First DSM complete.
http://www.asteroidmission.org/?latest-new...ft-update-dsm-1

One more hurdle cleared in the journey #ToBennuAndBack, eh?