Atlas V launches OSIRIS-REx to asteroid Bennu

9/8/16 ~ 7:05 p.m.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off at sunset with the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, the first

United States mission to retrieve and return a piece of an asteroid and the biggest sample return mission since the
Apollo era. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer will rendezvous with
asteroid Bennu in late 2018 and return a small sample of it to Earth on September 24, 2023.
Photos this page credit: United Launch Alliance except cleanroom spacecraft photos