BENNU BOUND: Happy news! The NASA OSIRIS-REx mission launched this afternoon from Cape Canaveral. We watched and read lots of pre-launch coverage thanks to NASA TV and a multitude of social media posts. Talk about a good sign! I love seeing "0 Days to Launch" on this iconic sign by Kennedy Space Center. (Photo: NASA)
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket looked sharp on the launch pad. (Photo: NASA)
And the launch itself was spectacular. Lots of cameras giving great vantage points. I was happy to know that in addition to we here at MPA watching, a bunch of other school kids were tuning in, too. This morning, I sent notices about the launch to three of my favorite teachers, and I know at least one of them had their students all watching the event. Hopefully, the rocket lit a spark with some of those kids, and they'll be interested in learning more about spaceflight. We always enjoy watching a rocket launch, of course, but today's was extra special knowing CJ and Annabelle's names were on board. And not only that, some of Annabelle's artwork hitched a ride, too, thanks to this notice we saw months ago.
BOLDLY GOING, FOR A HALF CENTURY: Today marked the 50th anniversary of the premiere of "Star Trek," the original series, on broadcast television. The ground breaking program took viewers on an amazing journey, and the franchise continues to do so to this day. Series creator Gene Roddenberry was a visionary - and he had an interesting life pre-Star Trek, as well. This comic from The Oatmeal shares his remarkable story. Do yourself a favor, and take a look, here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/plane
ASTEROID AND BACK: For years now, we've been tracking NASA's planned mission to an asteroid - and back! The target is asteroid Bennu, and finally, launch date is imminent. The launch window opens at 4:05 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, Sept. 7. (Photos above and below are credit NASA.)
Recently, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will carry OSIRIS-REx to space rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral to the launch pad.
After a two-year journey, the probe will retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. Per NASA, "The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth."
We found this great overview about the mission online https://youtu.be/3194ROG7VCE This morning, we watched a pre-launch briefing (archival version available here: https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/09/06/video-atlasosiris-rex-pre-launch-and-mission-science-press-briefings/) Annabelle sums up OSIRIS-REx below ...
OSIRIS-REx, an acronym for Origins Spectral Interpretation
Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer, is a space probe that will
be launched towards the Bennu asteroid, starting tomorrow. The mission of
OSIRIS-REx loosely mirrors the story of the Egyptian god Osiris. The god Osiris
had a knowledge of agriculture and brought life to the world. OSIRIS-REx is
going to be the first probe to actually bring samples back to earth, allowing
us to study some of the fundamentals that our solar system was built on up
close. It will be groundbreaking if the mission succeeds. The OSIRIS-REx mission
will also track the trajectory of Bennu, to see if it is a potential hazard to
earth. It will launch on an Atlas 5 rocket tomorrow, with a launch window of 7:05
pm to 9:00 pm EDT. I’m excited to see what valuable results OSIRIS-REx brings
back!
CJ has this to share ...
In recent years, you have likely heard stories about the Philae spacecraft landing on "67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko", a Jupiter-family comet. Philae was carried to its destination by the Rosetta spacecraft. According to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's website, upon reaching its destination, Philae achieved the first-ever "soft" (nondestructive) landing on a comet nucleus. A similar mission is about to be carried out:
On 9/8/16, the "OSIRIS-REx" mission will begin, and a special lander will start making its way towards a very special comet, known as "101955 Bennu". The OSIRIS-REx mission is special in that while Philae sent to 67P/C-G with the intention of just analyzing the surface of the comet and sending the data back to Earth, the OSIRIS-REx mission plans to get to Bennu (which won't happen until 2018) and actually collect a sample of Bennu's regolith (see below), which it will have brought back to Earth by 2023.
If you're wondering, according to Wikipedia, regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous superficial material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, Mars, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons. One of the important reasons why the scientists at NASA want to take a sample from an asteroid like Bennu is because if humans want to go out and colonize larger comets and terrestrial bodies in the future, we will have to know what materials can be found up there (for example: Silver and water), and where we can find them. Maybe it's in a comet!
A reason why the operators of the OSIRIS-REx mission chose the comet Bennu is because Bennu might be one of the Solar System's earliest comets: Likely existing before the Great Bombardment, an ancient event where countless asteroids hit Earth's surface and significantly altered Earth's surface and atmosphere. In an informational video I watched, Bennu was described as being sort of like a time capsule: A valuable look into the past, showing us *what* exactly the ancient solar system was like, and how the ancient solar system was different from the present-day solar system.
I am very excited for the OSIRIS-REx mission, and I can't wait for the regolith sample to come back to Earth.
CAMPING TRIP: We took a 6-plus hour trip down toward the Oregon Coast this weekend for a big family camp out in Siletz. The scenery was gorgeous, with trees turning toward their autumnal colors, but some flowers still in bloom. A pretty picturesque setting for a tent, wouldn't you say?
A blue tent gives the background to this lovely dahlia.
Look at these lovely yellow roses, in September!
I actually rather fancied this dahlia in the middle (below). Sure, it's past its prime, but I love the fact that it gave it its all.
We pitched a tent of a size that would make the Ringling Bros. jealous. However, the first night it was sited on a slight slope, and some ambient noise helped me not sleep, so volunteers helped pick it up intact and move it to a flat, quiet spot. Perfect!
PARK HOLIDAY: We spent a good chunk of Monday at Safeco Field, enjoying a Monday afternoon matinee that turned into a slugfest with a football-esque final score, 14-6. Fortunately, the Ms were on the upper end of that scoreboard. We bought cheap tickets for the game off of Stubhub. For about $11.50 after fees apiece, we each got in the door. We hung out in the bullpen for awhile, waiting for Mariners' ace Felix Hernandez and then watching him warm up.
After the bullpen action, we started walking the main concourse, heading toward the loooong escalator that would take us up to our third-tier seats. However, there were so many empty seats on the lower level. It seemed a shame to let them all go to waste. And so, we sat. Just inside the right field foul pole, specifically.
About the seventh inning, we walked over toward the kids' favorite fro-yo stand and spent the rest of the game near the left field foul pole.
Fortunately, the Ms were victorious and Felix got the win. He seemed pretty excited about that.
