OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft prepared for mission to an Asteroid

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is revealed after its protective cover is removed, preparing for mission to an Asteroid.

OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, targeted for a Sept. 8 launch.

It will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study.

OSIRIS-REx has an approximately two-year cruise to reach the asteroid Bennu in 2018.

Image Credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

source NASA