Smoke and fire covered the ground as the NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission launched into space. Blasting out of Earth’s orbit on Thursday, September 8, the mission begins its two-year journey to sample an asteroid. It will be seven long years before the spacecraft returns home, dropping its bounty into the Utah desert. Along the way, it will map an asteroid in depth and help scientists better understand the secrets of the early universe.
Mission team members anticipated good conditions headed into the launch. Favorable conditions heralded the day, with light thunderstorms sweeping quickly through around noon. By evening, the sky overhead was clear of clouds, though a few gathered over the ocean to the east.
OSIRIS-REx launched aboard at Atlas V rocket, exploding into the sky promptly on schedule at 7:05 pm EST. This was the rocket’s 65th successful launch, and it was a triumph. At its head, OSIRIS-REx cut through the clear blue sky with deceptive ease.
“We hit all of our milestones right on time—in most cases, a little ahead of time,” United Launch Alliance program manager Scott Messer told the press right after the launch.
“The vehicle performance was absolutely perfect,” he said.
An hour after the launch, long after it was out of sight, the rocket separated from the upper stage. According to Messer, the vehicle entered an almost-perfect orbit, making a handful of minor corrections to ensure it remained on course.