from The Christian Science Monitor 

NASA greenlights OSIRIS-REx for asteroid hunt

On September 8, OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to be launched toward the asteroid Bennu to collect samples to send back to Earth. The asteroid may provide hints about the formation of planets and the origins of life on Earth.

By Weston Williams

NASA//Reuters

On September 8 at 7:05 a.m. Eastern time, NASA plans to launch a historic probe to rendezvous with a nearby asteroid.

For the first time, a NASA probe will send pieces of an asteroid back home for study on Earth.

So far, everything seems to be a go for the mission. NASA confirmed details about the probe, the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer or OSIRIS-REx, Wednesday in a press release.

According to NASA, the probe will carry a camera system, multiple types of spectrometers, and a laser altimeter to map the shape of the asteroid Bennu.

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