[meteorite-list] Launch of First U.S. Spacecraft to Sample Asteroid Set for September (OSIRIS-REx)

[Ron Baalke]

May 20, 2016

MEDIA ADVISORY M16-057

Launch of First U.S. Spacecraft to Sample Asteroid Set for September, NASA Media Accreditation Open

NASA has opened accreditation for media to attend the September launch of the 
first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid. NASA's Origins, Spectral 
Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security - Regolith Explorer 
(OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to and collect surface material from the 
asteroid Bennu, and return it to Earth for study.

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 
rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sept. 
8. The two-hour launch window opens at 7:05 p.m. EDT.

Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at Cape Canaveral and 
NASA's neighboring Kennedy Space Center. Credentialing deadlines are as 
follows:

 * International news media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4:30 p.m.
   Aug. 5, for access to Cape Canaveral and Kennedy.
 * International news media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4:30 p.m.,
   Aug. 23, for access to Kennedy only.
 * U.S. news media must apply by 4:30 p.m. Aug. 29.

All media accreditation requests should be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

International journalists must upload a scanned copy of their visa and 
passport or green card with their accreditation request. Media 
representatives must present two forms of unexpired, government 
identification to enter Kennedy. One form must include a photo, such as a 
passport or driver's license.

Questions about accreditation may be addressed to Jennifer Horner at 
jennifer.p.horner at nasa.gov or 321-867-6598. For additional information, 
contact Kennedy's newsroom at 321-867-2468.

OSIRIS-REx will retrieve at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of surface material. 
Scientists suspect Bennu may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and 
the source of the water and organic molecules that may have made their way to 
Earth.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall 
mission management, systems engineering and the safety and mission assurance 
for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta is the mission's principal investigator at the 
University of Arizona in Tucson. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver 
built the spacecraft.

OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. The 
agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the 
New Frontiers Program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in 
Washington. Launch and countdown is managed at Kennedy.

For more information about the OSIRIS-REx Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

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