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Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT) today to send NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on a seven-year, 4.4-billion-mile mission to rendezvous with Asteroid Bennu and bring a sample of the primordial object back to Earth. Follow the mission in our live journal.
Photos: OSIRIS-REx on pad to begin voyage to Bennu and back
Headed to a relic from the solar system's formation over four billion years ago, NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample return craft was moved to Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 launch pad today in preparation for liftoff Thursday aboard an Atlas 5 rocket en route to Asteroid Bennu hoping to find the seeds of life.
Photos: Atlas 5 rocket rolls out to launch asteroid sampling probe
Poised to embark on a 7-year adventure to Asteroid Bennu and back, NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample return spacecraft was moved to the launch pad today aboard its Atlas 5 rocket for liftoff Thursday evening.
Atlas 5/OSIRIS-REx launch timeline
Follow the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad to send NASA's OSIRIS-REx on an interplanetary trajectory to intercept Asteroid Bennu and bring back a pristine sample. Launch is scheduled for Thursday at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT).
Photos: Asteroid probe encapsulated, mounted atop Atlas 5 for launch
Technicians inched the two halves of the Atlas 5's aluminum nose cone around NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to package the asteroid sample return probe, then moved the satellite to the rocket's assembly building and hoisted it aboard the two-stage booster during the final days of August for the Sept. 8 launch.
Video: Atlas/OSIRIS-REx pre-launch and mission science press briefings
Watch the Atlas 5 rocket and OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return spacecraft pre-launch news conference and the mission science briefing held on Launch-minus 2 days at the Kennedy Space Center.
Atlas 5 rocket cleared to launch NASA probe to Asteroid Bennu
Mission leaders Tuesday gave approval for rollout of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket to its pad on Wednesday morning, leading to liftoff Thursday evening of a NASA probe to rendezvous with an asteroid and bring a sample back to Earth.
Preview: NASA craft launches Thursday seeking the seeds of life on asteroid
What began as a concept scribbled on a cocktail napkin in a Tucson bar 12 years ago -- sending a spacecraft to an asteroid and retrieving a pristine sample to bring back to Earth for study -- becomes reality Thursday with the launch of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission.
Weather forecast favorable for Atlas 5 to launch NASA asteroid probe Thursday
Prognosticators are predicting favorable weather conditions to launch an Atlas 5 rocket Thursday and send NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on its interplanetary journey to interrogate an asteroid and collect a surface sample for return to Earth.
Asteroid probe apparently unharmed in nearby SpaceX explosion, passes its FRR
NASA says initial checks show no damage to the Atlas 5 rocket or the agency's asteroid-bound OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that stood within the Vertical Integration Facility just a mile away from the SpaceX explosion Thursday.