CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – An Atlas V rocket launched Thursday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying NASA's first asteroid-sampling spacecraft.
The spacecraft, Osiris-Rex, will be aiming for asteroid Bennu. The probe will orbit the big black rock, vacuum up some gravel, then haul the sample back to Earth. The entire quest will take seven years.
It is NASA’s first attempt to collect and bring back an asteroid sample, following a Japanese mission’s 2010 return of grains from the asteroid Itokawa.
The 189-foot United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket was scheduled to lift off with the NASA probe from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:05 p.m. Thursday.
ULA said this was its eighth launch in 2016 and the 111th successful launch since the company was formed in December 2006.
"We are honored to be chosen by NASA to launch this historic mission," ULA vice president of Custom Services Laura Maginnis said. “Thank you to our NASA customer and mission partners for the outstanding teamwork and attention to detail as we successfully started OSIRIS-Rex on its seven-year journey to Bennu."
The mission was launched aboard an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle 411 configuration vehicle, which includes a 4-meter large Payload Fairing, ULA officials said. The Atlas booster was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine and the Centaur upper stage was powered by the Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10A engine.
[RAW VIDEO: Atlas V rocket launches]
"ULA and our heritage vehicles have successfully launched NASA missions to every planet in our solar system," Maginnis said. "ULA's commitment to mission launch is unparalleled and we're proud of our team for continuing our unprecedented track record of 100 percent mission success."
There was an 80 percent chance of favorable weather during a nearly two-hour window at Launch Complex 41, which was undamaged by a SpaceX rocket’s nearby explosion a week ago.
NASA has gone after comet dust and solar wind particles before, but never pieces of an asteroid. It promises to be the biggest cosmic haul since the Apollo moon rocks.
Eight-thousand NASA guests are descending on Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the launch, including the schoolboy who named the asteroid. Mike Puzio of Greensboro, North Carolina, won a naming contest in 2013. Now 12, he can't wait to see his first up-close rocket launch.
The name Bennu comes from the heron of Egyptian mythology.
ULA said its next launch is the Atlas V WorldView-4 satellite for Lockheed Martin and DigitalGlobe. The launch is scheduled for Sept. 16 from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.