NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Begins Its Countdown to TAG Asteroid Bennu’s Boulder-Strewn Surface
A historic moment is on the horizon for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. In just a few weeks, the robotic OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will descend to asteroid Bennu’s…
OSIRIS-REx
Vesta Meteorites Discovered on Asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft
In an interplanetary faux pas, it appears some pieces of asteroid Vesta ended up on asteroid Bennu, according to observations from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. The…
Particles As Big as Softballs Ejected From Asteroid Bennu Seem to Do the Impossible – Now Astrophysicists Know Why
In January 2019, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was orbiting the asteroid Bennu when the spacecraft’s cameras caught something unexpected: Thousands of tiny bits of material, some just…
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Discovers Sunlight Cracking Rocks on Asteroid Bennu
Asteroids don’t just sit there doing nothing as they orbit the Sun. They get bombarded by meteoroids, blasted by space radiation, and now, for the…
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Officially Ready for Touchdown on Asteroid Bennu
NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission is officially prepared for its long-awaited touchdown on asteroid Bennu’s surface. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security…
NASA One Step Closer to Touching Asteroid Bennu and Collecting a Sample to Return to Earth
After the successful completion of its “Checkpoint” rehearsal, NASA’s first asteroid-sampling spacecraft is one step closer to touching down on asteroid Bennu. On April 14,…
NASA’s Asteroid Sampling Spacecraft to Pursue Its First Practice Run
In August, a robotic spacecraft will make NASA’s first-ever attempt to descend to the surface of an asteroid, collect a sample, and ultimately bring it…
Global Map of Asteroid Bennu in Unprecedented Detail – Collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft
This global map of asteroid Bennu’s surface is a mosaic of images collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft between March 7 and April 19, 2019. A…
“Bullseye TAG” – How NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Will Navigate to Touchdown on Asteroid Bennu
This summer, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will undertake NASA’s first-ever attempt to touch the surface of an asteroid, collect a sample of it, and safely back…
Features on Asteroid Bennu Now Have Official Names – Based on Mythological Creatures
Asteroid Bennu’s most prominent boulder, a rock chunk jutting out 71 ft (21.7 m) from the asteroid’s southern hemisphere, finally has a name. The boulder…
OSIRIS-REx Swoops Over Sample Site Nightingale on Asteroid Bennu
NASA’s first asteroid-sampling spacecraft just got its best look yet at asteroid Bennu. Yesterday, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft executed…
Unexpected Glimpse of Newly Discovered Black Hole Caught by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx
University students and researchers working on a NASA mission orbiting a near-Earth asteroid have made an unexpected detection of a phenomenon 30 thousand light-years away….
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Completes Osprey Flyover – But There Was a Problem
On February 11, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft safely executed a 0.4-mile (620-m) flyover of the backup sample collection site Osprey as part of the mission’s…
NASA Selects Nightingale Crater on Bennu for Asteroid Sample Collection
After a year scoping out asteroid Bennu’s boulder-scattered surface, the team leading NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission has officially selected a sample collection site….
Daring Rescue of Monumental Asteroid Mission – Here’s How Engineers Pulled It Off
On Friday, October 11, 2019, the OSIRIS-REx team should have been preparing to point their spacecraft cameras precisely over the asteroid Bennu to capture high-resolution…
Bennu Site Selection for NASA’s First Asteroid Sample Return Mission
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is just days away from selecting the site where the spacecraft will snag a sample from asteroid Bennu. After a lengthy and…
Asteroid Bennu’s Mysterious Particle Events Explained by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx [Video]
Shortly after NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu, an unexpected discovery by the mission’s science team revealed that the asteroid could be active, or…
OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Enters Close Orbit Around Bennu
At 2:43 p.m. EST on December 31, while many on Earth prepared to welcome the New Year, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, 70 million miles (110 million…