<p>Liftoff of OSIRA United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. Liftoff was at 7:05 p.m. EDT. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.
Photo credit: NASA/Sandy Joseph and Tim Terry
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IS-REx from Pad 41.
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/108488366@N07">NASA Kennedy</a> from United States<br>NASA/Sandy Joseph and Tim Terry
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasakennedy/28928192294/">OSIRISKSC-20160908-PH_SRJ02_0013-REx Liftoff</a>