OSIRIS-REx is complete and will collect asteroid samples in 2016
It seems like only yesterday that OSIRIS-REx got its first scientific instrument: a thermal emission spectrometer that can take the temp of an asteroid called Bennu every two seconds. Now, Lockheed Martin is done building the spacecraft, and NASA’s slated to send it off to space in 2016 to collect samples from the near-Earth asteroid. Before it blasts off, though, the probe will undergo more rigorous testing as a whole spacecraft within the next five months. That includes subjecting it to extreme temps, vibrations, electromagnetic interference and vacuum that simulate space travel.
Source: Lockheed Martin
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