Question: Name the spacecraft launched onboard United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid Bennu?
(a) Atlantis
(b) OSIRIS-Rex
(c) New Horizon
(d) Kepler
Ans : ( b)
Related facts:
- On 8 September 2016 US space agency, NASA launched OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft onboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
- OSIRIS-REx is United States’ first mission to collect samples from an asteroid and return to Earth.
- It will reach the Bennu asteroid in August, 2018.
- The spacecraft will spend over a year exploring the asteroid before approaching its surface to grab a sample.
- OSIRIS-REx’s main goal is to gather dirt and debris at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) from the surface of the asteroid and return it to Earth by 2023 for further study.
- The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.
- 101955 Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid in the Apollo group that was discovered by the LINEAR Project on September 11, 1999.
Reference:
https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/08/nasa-has-successfully-launched-osiris-rex-their-first-asteroid-sample-return-mission/
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-osiris-rex-speeds-toward-asteroid-rendezvous/
http://www.asteroidmission.org/mission/
http://www.asteroidmission.org/?latest-news=nasas-osiris-rex-speeds-toward-asteroid-rendezvous