Primary Goal Is To Return Asteroid Sample To Earth

NASA's long-awaited OSIRIS-REx mission is scheduled for launch Thursday, but the recent failure of a SpaceX rocket at Cape Canaveral has made everyone extra-cautious.

USA Today reports that OSIRIS-REx Lead Scientist Dante Lauretta said in a pre-launch news conference Tuesday that the explosion of a SpaceX rocket on its launch pad was a 'stark reminder to me and this whole team about the risks we face in this business."

While that accident is still being investigated, NASA officials said they had determined that it would have no bearing on their ability to launch the Atlas V rocket carrying OSIRIS-REx on Thursday. Launch officials say they are not aware of any debris from the Falcon 9 booster on the Atlas V launch pad.

The OSIRIS-REx launch is scheduled for 1905 ET Thursday. Currently, the Florida weather is forecast to be just about ideal for the launch. If the mission goes as planned, the spacecraft will reach its asteroid target in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/osiris-rex/about