This Week at NASA: OSIRIS-REx Launches, NASA X-Plane and More

On Sept. 8, NASA launched the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security – Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
OSIRIS-REx, the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, is scheduled to arrive at near-Earth asteroid Bennu in 2018. Mission plans call for the spacecraft to survey the asteroid, retrieve a small sample from its surface, and return the sample to Earth for study in 2023. Analysis of that sample is expected to reveal clues about the history of Bennu over the past 4.5 billion years, as well as clues about the evolution of our solar system. Also, Williams’ Record-Breaking Spaceflight Concludes, Next ISS Crew Prepares for Launch, Sample Return Robot Challenge, NASA X-Plane Gets its Wing, and Convergent Aeronautics Solutions Showcase.