Nasa's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Mission Passes Critical Milestone to Launch

The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission has passed a critical milestone in its path towards launch and is officially authorised to transition into its next phase, the US space agency said in a statement.

"This is an exciting time for the OSIRIS-REx team. After almost four years of intense design efforts, we are now proceeding with the start of flight system assembly," said Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-Rex at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

OSIRIS-REx is the first US mission to return samples from an asteroid to the Earth.

The spacecraft will travel to a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu and bring at least a 60-gram sample back to Earth for study.

OSIRIS-REx carries five instruments that will remotely evaluate the surface of Bennu.

The mission will help scientists investigate the composition of the very early solar system and the source of organic materials and water that made their way to the Earth, and improve understanding of asteroids that could impact our planet.

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled for launch in late 2016. The spacecraft will reach Bennu in 2018 and return a sample to the Earth in 2023.

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