NASA is going to launch its newest spacecraft tonight, OSIRIS-REx, which will head to the asteroid Bennu and collect surface samples before it returns to Earth seven years from now. OSIRIS-REx—which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer—is first and foremost an asteroid sample return mission, but it will also gather data from orbit about Bennu's composition, which could help us learn about the formation of the solar system, and search for undiscovered asteroids that may pose a threat to us in the future.

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The launch window for OSIRIS-REx opens at 7:05 p.m. EDT and stays open until about 9 p.m. The spacecraft will launch on an Atlas V rocket, and it will travel through space for two years before reaching Bennu in 2018. Once there, it will spend a year studying the asteroid from orbit with its many cameras and scientific instruments, determining Bennu's composition and searching for a place to grab a sample.

In 2020, the spacecraft will collect a sample by performing a low flyby and using its Touch and Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) to reach out and force loose surface material from the asteroid into the Sample Return Capsule with a blast of pressurized gas. The OSIRIS-REx team is prepared to perform this touch-and-go maneuver three times to make sure a quality sample is obtained. Then, in 2021, the craft will leave Bennu for its trip home, arriving back at Earth in 2023. Once the spacecraft returns, it will jettison its Sample Return Capsule to reenter Earth's atmosphere and parachute safely to the ground.

In addition to the sample acquisition mechanism, OSIRIS-REx is loaded with cameras and scientific instruments to help it get the most out of its observational time around Bennu. It has three cameras, one short-range, one mid-range, and one long-range, to capture as much detail from the asteroid as possible. It also carries a laser altimeter to create 3D maps of Bennu and multiple laser spectrometers to find out exactly what Bennu is made of.

Once back at Earth, the samples can be analyzed using sophisticated equipment that would be impossible to fit onto the spacecraft. When OSIRIS-REx returns with its prize in 2023, we hope to learn a great deal about the history of the solar system and even the formation of the Earth, considering most of the material in the early solar system was similar to modern asteroids like Bennu. Getting our hands on some of that material is worth a bit of a wait.

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