NASA set to launch near-Earth asteroid mission

US space agency NASA is poised Thursday to launch its groundbreaking first mission to a near-Earth asteroid to collect samples that could shed light on the dawn of the solar system. Scientists hope the seven-year, $800 million mission will reveal something about the origins of the Bennu asteroid and of life itself. 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.