OSIRIS-REx, the University of Arizona-led mission to asteroid Bennu, remains on schedule to launch Sept. 8 after the Thursday morning explosion of a SpaceX rocket and satellite on a nearby launch pad at Kennedy Space Center.
The spacecraft, which was already atop its Atlas V rocket when the explosion occurred at a launch pad at least 1.5 miles away, has a scheduled launch time of 4:05 p.m. Arizona time next Thursday.
Launch window for that day is two hours long and, if delays occur, the mission could launch any time in the following 34 days.
NASA's Kennedy Space Center said on its website today that the mission passed its "flight readiness review."
That announcement:
"Launch and mission officials gathered this morning for the OSIRIS-REx Flight Readiness Review and concluded that there are no issues or concerns that would preclude continuing to target launch next Thursday, Sept. 8.
People are also reading…
"Liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is planned for 7:05 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 on Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Atlas V, including the payload fairing containing the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, is in place at the pad, where vehicle closeouts have started."
Contact reporter Tom Beal at tbeal@tucson.com or 520-573-4158. Follow him on Facebook or @bealagram on Twitter.
Second wall planned across Arizona as Trump administration doubles down on border
