Asteroid Bennu

OSIRIS-REx Collected So Much Material, the Sample Capsule Overflowed. Time to Bring it All Home.

Is there such as thing as too much asteroid? Scientists and engineers for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx decided to perform an “early…

3 years ago

Success! OSIRIS-REx Touches Asteroid Bennu to Collect Samples

Out in the asteroid belt, 207 million miles (334 million km) from Earth, a little spacecraft briefly touched down on…

4 years ago

Watch “Live” as NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Nabs an Asteroid Sample

Today’s the day! The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is going to reach out and boop asteroid Bennu! You can watch the broadcast…

4 years ago

Just A Couple Of Weeks From Now, OSIRIS-REx Will Grab A Sample From Bennu

NASA is about to achieve another first for their organization. In about three weeks time, on October 20th, the OSIRIS-REx…

4 years ago

Rocks on Bennu are Cracking Because of the Constant Day/Night Cycling

Asteroid Bennu is blanketed by rocks and huge boulders. And now that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is taking a close look…

4 years ago

OSIRIS-REx Will Collect a Sample from Bennu on October 20th

The date is finally set for OSIRIS-REx's sampling maneuver. The spacecraft has been at asteroid Bennu since the end of…

4 years ago

OSIRIS-REx Descended Down to Just 75 Meters Above the Surface of Bennu in a Recent Test

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is getting ready for its big moment. OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is…

4 years ago

These are the Boulders OSIRIS-REx is Going to Use to Navigate Down to the Surface of Bennu

Meet OSIRIS-REx's "Guide Boulders." When the NASA spacecraft first arrived at asteroid Bennu over a year ago, the surface of…

4 years ago

Asteroid Bennu is Getting Some Official Names for its Surface Features

Late last summer, NASA and the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (a.k.a WGPSN) approved the naming…

4 years ago

OSIRIS-REx did its Closest Flyover Yet, just 250 Meters Above its Sample Site

NASA's OSIRIS-REx is getting closer, physically and temporally, to its primary goal. The spacecraft arrived at Bennu at the end…

4 years ago