The rocket that will send a University of Arizona spacecraft to an asteroid will be moved to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center this week for testing.
The OSIRIS-REx mission is scheduled to blast off in two weeks. The spacecraft, about the size of an SUV, will sit atop an Atlas 5 rocket. The first two stages of the rocket will be rolled out to the launch pad Wednesday for a simulated launch.
Scott Messer of United Launch Alliance, the rocket builder, explained the process.
“On the 24th of August, NASA has requested that we do what we call a wet dress rehearsal where we’ll actually roll the first stage and the Centaur second stage out to the launch pad. We will fill it with propellants, verify that everything works and then we will roll it back," said Messer.
The spacecraft, protected by a covering called a fairing, will be attached to the rocket next week. The entire stack will move to the launch pad Sept. 7, the day before the scheduled blastoff.
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