CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept 8 (Reuters) - An Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Florida on Thursday carrying a space probe on NASA's first quest to collect samples from an asteroid and return them to Earth in hopes of learning more about the origins of life. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept 6 (Reuters) - A U.S. space probe was cleared for launch on Thursday to collect and return samples from an asteroid in hopes of learning more about the origins of life on Earth and perhaps elsewhere in the solar system, NASA said on Tuesday. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to blast off Thursday at 7:05 pm (2305 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “We expect these samples will contain organic molecules from the early solar system that may give us information and clues to the origin of life.”

The Lockheed Martin-made spacecraft will be carried aboard an Atlas V rocket made by United Launch Alliance, a 50-50 joint venture owned by Lockheed and Boeing. Perched on top of the 19-story rocket was NASA's robot explorer Osiris-Rex, built by Lockheed Martin to carry out the seven-year, $1 billion mission to and from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. After gathering at least 2 ounces (60 grams) of material, Osiris-Rex will fly back to Earth, jettisoning a capsule bearing the asteroid-sample container for a parachute descent and landing in the Utah desert in September 2023. The mission has been described as a ‘slow high-five’ with a nearby asteroid to collect material that could date back to the origins of the solar system

Nasa launched a spacecraft on Thursday for a mission to slap an asteroid, capture some of the debris that shakes off, and return more interstellar samples to Earth than any mission since the Apollo era. So why spend $800 million, not counting the launch vehicle, to chase an asteroid moving 63,000 miles per hour for seven years and grab a small sample in a five-second span?
The United Launch Alliance successfully launches NASA's OSIRIS-REx from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida. The mission is to study asteroid 101955 Bennu and in 2023 to return a sample to Earth for detailed analysis. If successful, OSIRIS-REx will be the first U.S. spacecraft to return samples from an asteroid.