2016-09-20

NASA has Launched a Spacecraft to an Aerolitic

The American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent the spacecraft OSIRIS-REx to the asteroid Bennu to collect rock samples. According to the statement made by NASA, OSIRIS-REx was launched from Cape Canaveral Base located in Florida, USA by Atlas rocket on Thursday, September 8 at 19.05 local time.

SIRIS-REx is scheduled to land on the meteorite in 2018.

This spacecraft will first map Bennu and then start collecting rock samples from the surface. Bennu was selected among approximately 500 thousand meteorites due to its proximity to our planet. OSIRIS-REx is expected to leave Bennu in 2021 with the rock samples and return to Earth in 2023.