NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission

Procedures are being refined to ensure the safe recovery of samples from asteroid Bennu when they are returned to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on 24 September.

Small rocks seen spewing into space from the asteroid Bennu likely were ejected due to thermal stress and shotgun-like meteoroid impacts.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft slipped into a record-close orbit of the asteroid Bennu on New Year’s Eve, setting the stage for exceedingly close-range observations.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, closing in on asteroid Bennu, has sent back photos showing a body remarkably similar in appearance to the asteroid Ryugu being studied by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has captured its first images of asteroid Bennu at a range of 2.2 million kilometres (4.1 million miles); the probe will slip into orbit around Bennu on New Year’s Eve to kick off a sample-return mission