A NASA robotic mission that collected and returned a sample from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, launched on 8 September 2016. The spacecraft touched down briefly on Bennu in October 2020 to collect 121.6 grams of material, then returned the sample to Earth on 24 September 2023, the largest asteroid sample ever recovered, intended to help scientists understand the early Solar System and the origins of organic compounds that contributed to life on Earth.
Facts
Mission TypeRobotic asteroid sample-return mission 1 End DateDate the sample capsule returned to Earth; the spacecraft itself was then redirected to a new mission, OSIRIS-APEX, to asteroid Apophis. OutcomeSuccessful; collected and returned 121.6 grams of material from asteroid Bennu, the largest asteroid sample return to date, before the spacecraft was redirected to a new mission (OSIRIS-APEX) to the asteroid Apophis. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: OSIRIS-REx, lead sectionQuote, Wikipedia: OSIRIS-REx, lead section
The material, returned in September 2023, is expected to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System.
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