ASU hosting an out of this world party to celebrate launch of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx
Sep 5, 2016, 8:48 AM | Updated: 9:10 am
(Facebook photo)
(Facebook photo)
ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration is ready to launch a party of galactic proportions—or at least close to it. On Thursday, Sept. 8, starting at 3:30 p.m., the school will be hosting a party to celebrate the launch of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx.
On the spacecraft is a very special ASU-made instrument.
“We have an instrument on OSIRIS-REx called OTES,” said Karin Valentine, the media relations and marketing manager for the School of Earth and Space Exploration. “It is scheduled to fly to the asteroid Bennu, and it will be collecting samples of its rocks and dirt.”
She says OTES is the first complex space flight instrument designed and built at ASU. OTES is a thermal emission spectrometer. It’s designed to map out the minerals on Bennu’s surface.
The launch party is a unique opportunity to witness OSIRIS-REx’s take off live without having to travel Florida.
“We’ll have a live NASA feed from the Kennedy Space Center, and we’ll have launch experts on hand and also some light refreshments,” Valentine said.
She says everyone is invited to come.
Doors open at 3:30 p.m. but the launch is scheduled to happen between 4 and 6 p.m. The party is at the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV (ISTB 4) on the Tempe campus near Rural and Terrace Roads.
Parking is available at the Rural Road structure for $3 an hour. More parking is available south of ISTB 4 for $2 per hour. Find out more by clicking here or by contacting Stephanee Germaine at 480-727-3583 or her email.
