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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.

Animation of OSIRIS-REx mission from liftoff to return home
This NASA animation depicts the OSIRIS-REx mission to grab a sample of Asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth for study. Launch from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas 5 rocket is scheduled for Sept. 8 and landing in Utah is planned for Sept. 24, 2023.

Probe hoisted aboard launcher to leave Earth next week on asteroid adventure
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft today moved a step closer to starting a voyage to explore an uncharted world in our solar system -- the mountain-sized Asteroid Bennu -- by joining the booster rocket that will propel it from Earth next week.

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket assembled for launch of asteroid sample return probe
At Cape Canaveral's Vertical Integration Facility, adjacent to the Complex 41 launch pad, workers with United Launch Alliance stacked the Atlas 5 rocket that will propel NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on its voyage to Asteroid Bennu.

Atlas 5 rocket rehearses countdown for upcoming launch to Asteroid Bennu
Running through a practice countdown to check systems before launching a NASA sample-return probe to Asteroid Bennu in exactly two weeks, an Atlas 5 successfully completed its Wet Dress Rehearsal today.

Sophisticated new U.S. weather observatory being readied for launch
On the cusp of advancing U.S. weather forecasting, a powerful new satellite was shipped from its Denver factory to the Cape today in preparation for launch in November.

Video: Preview of the OSIRIS-REx mission to sample an asteroid
Watch the pre-flight news conference that introduces NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on Sept. 8. It will capture a sample of Asteroid Bennu for return to Earth.