The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft on board is seen illuminated in the distance in this thirty second exposure on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to launch on Sept. 8 and will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.
<bdi><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q71582571" class="extiw" title="d:Q71582571"><span title="American photographer">Joel Kowsky</span></a>
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2016-09-07
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