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OSIRIS-REx is NASA's first
asteroid sample return mission.

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So, OSIRIS-REx will spend about
two years journeying to asteroid

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Bennu.

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Once we get there we'll spend
a couple years surveying the

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surface of the asteroid to find
the best place to get a sample

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from and then we'll go ahead and
return it to Earth and have that

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sample for scientists
to study in perpetuity.

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OSIRIS-REx is an
amazing mission.

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It's the third mission in the
New Frontiers line, a PI-led

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mission to go to asteroid Bennu,
collect a sample and bring it

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back to the Earth.

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Asteroid Bennu contains
isotopes, minerals and chemicals

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from the early solar system
and by studying these on Earth,

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we'll better understand the
origin of the solar system, the

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origin of planets, perhaps
even the origin of life.

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Bennu was chosen as the target
asteroid from the science team

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after evaluating three critical
criteria: the first of which was

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accessibility.

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So Bennu is really optimal.

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It has an orbit of about 1.2
years and it passes by Earth

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every six years.

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Second criteria was the size.

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We needed something large enough
to where it wasn't rotating too

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fast.

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The smaller the body,
typically the faster it rotates.

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We wanted something that we
would be able to do close

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proximity operations with, all
that detailed mapping we want to

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do of the surface, and we wanted
something that was rotating at a

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speed that we could be able to
match, and then slowly lower

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ourselves to
retrieve that sample.

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The third criteria
was the composition.

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We wanted an asteroid that
was pristine, that had a known

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geologic context that was
carbon-rich and Bennu really fit

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the mold for all
three of those criteria,

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and that's why it's the
destination asteroid.

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OSIRIS-REx arrives at Bennu in
August of 2018 and our mission

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profile is designed to get us
ever closer to the surface of

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the asteroid to understand
the nature of its surface.

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What we really want to know is,
can we get the spacecraft down

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to the point where we
want to get the sample?

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We call that deliverability.

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If we reach that point, will the
spacecraft remain safe? Meaning

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it can get away from the
asteroid and still be functional

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especially for returning
a sample to the Earth.

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And then we also want to know if
we touch down on that spot, will

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we get a sample?

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We call that the
sampleability assessment.

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So those are the key parameters
that drive our observation

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planning of Bennu and we're
going to spend about 10 months

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globally mapping the asteroid
and then performing detailed

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site reconnaissance of specific
locations where we think we want

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to get the sample.

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Status check.

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Go Atlas.

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Go Centaur.

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Go OSIRIS-REx.

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What I personally am most
excited about for the OSIRIS-REx

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mission will be the first images
that we get when approaching

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Bennu.

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So right now we have a sense of
what Bennu looks like and what

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its shape is from ground-based
assets like Arecibo and the

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Goldstone radars, but we
won't know what the shape is

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completely.

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We won't have a perfect sense of
it until we actually encounter

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the asteroid.

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I am going to be really excited
when those images come back.

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For me, getting that sample back
to Earth is the most exciting

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part because we will have
something that preserves

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material from over four and
a half billion years ago.

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Who doesn't want that?

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So sample return is really the
most exciting part, I think, of

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this mission.

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I've been working on OSIRIS
and its precursor concepts since

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2004.

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The launch is about
the halfway point.

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So for me, launch is a major
milestone, but not the most

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exciting part of the mission.

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The most exciting part is the
stories that Bennu has to tell

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us that we haven't
even thought of yet.

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And liftoff of OSIRIS-REx!

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Its seven-year mission: to
boldly go to the asteroid Bennu

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and back.

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[ Launch audio ]

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[ Satellite beeping ]