# Topics > Space >  OSIRIS-REx, NASA, Washington, D.C., USA

## Airicist

Operator - NASA

Website - asteroidmission.org

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OSIRIS-REx on Wikipedia

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## Airicist

What is OSIRIS-REx?

Published on Jan 27, 2014




> What is OSIRIS-REx? OSIRIS-REx presents the new 321Science video about the mission and its acronym. This video explores what the OSIRIS-REx mission will do when it visits asteroid Bennu in 2018.

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## Airicist

OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Mission Trajectory

Published on Oct 22, 2015




> This animation shows the path that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will take on its journey to asteroid Bennu and back to Earth! OSIRIS-REx launches in 2016 and returns a sample of Bennu's surface material to Earth in 2023.

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## Airicist

Osiris-Rex: Chasing Asteroid Bennu

Published on Sep 6, 2016




> NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft will hunt down an asteroid and return a sample to Earth.

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## Airicist

Atlas V OSIRIS-REx mission profile

Published on Sep 7, 2016




> The OSIRIS-REx mission will help scientists investigate the origins of our solar system, how water and organic material traveled to Earth, and increase understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth. In addition, the sample returned to Earth will further our understanding of water, organics and precious metals on asteroids, which could fuel future exploration missions.

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## Airicist

ScienceCasts: To Bennu and Back

Published on Sep 7, 2016

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## Airicist

An OSIRIS-REx talk

Published on Sep 7, 2016




> NASA hosted a discussion with representatives from the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx mission. Members of the mission’s science and engineering teams provided an overview of the spacecraft and the science behind the mission. OSIRIS-REx, targeted to launch Sept. 8 at 7:05 p.m. EDT to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid. The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Bennu in 2018, survey the asteroid’s surface, retrieve at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of surface material, and return the sample to Earth in 2023 for study. Analysis of the sample will reveal the earliest stages of the solar system’s evolution and the history of Bennu over the past 4.5 billion years.

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## Airicist

OSIRIS-REx Poised for Sampling Run to Asteroid

Published on Sep 7, 2016




> Bolted to the top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will lift off on a mission to study an asteroid in unprecedented detail. The study will include taking a small sample of the asteroid and returning it to Earth for firsthand analysis.

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## Airicist

Atlas V OSIRIS-REx launch highlights

Published on Sep 8, 2016




> An Atlas V rocket successfully delivers NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to orbit. The OSIRIS-REx mission will help scientists investigate the origins of our solar system, how water and organic material traveled to Earth, and increase understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth. In addition, the sample returned to Earth will further our understanding of water, organics and precious metals on asteroids, which could fuel future exploration missions.

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## Airicist

Atlas V OSIRIS-REx rocket cam

Published on Sep 8, 2016

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## Airicist

First U.S. Sample Return mission to an asteroid launches

Published on Sep 8, 2016




> On Sept. 8, NASA launched the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. OSIRIS-REx is the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid. The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at near-Earth asteroid Bennu in 2018, survey the asteroid’s surface, retrieve at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of surface material, and return the sample to Earth in 2023 for study. Analysis of the sample will reveal the earliest stages of the solar system’s evolution and the history of Bennu over the past 4.5 billion years.

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## Airicist

Post launch status of Asteroid Sample Return Mission

Published on Sep 8, 2016




> Following the Sept. 8 launch of the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, representatives from NASA and United Launch Alliance (ULA) discussed the status of the spacecraft and the next steps on the mission. OSIRIS-REx is the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid. The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at near-Earth asteroid Bennu in 2018, survey the asteroid’s surface, retrieve at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of surface material, and return the sample to Earth in 2023 for study. Analysis of the sample will reveal the earliest stages of the solar system’s evolution and the history of Bennu over the past 4.5 billion years.

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## Airicist

OSIRIS-REx Launch Highlights Reel from ULA

Published on Sep 10, 2016




> From rocket roll-out to spacecraft separation: United Launch Alliance produced a beautiful highlights reel of the OSIRIS-REx launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Sept. 8, 2016. The spacecraft is on a seven-year mission to collect a sample of the ancient asteroid Bennu.

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## Airicist

OSIRIS-REx's Sample Return Capsule Comes Back to Earth

Published on Sep 23, 2016




> This animation shows the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule (SRC)--which will contain a sample of surface material from the asteroid Bennu--being released from the spacecraft and landing in the Utah desert. The SRC will land on Sept. 24, 2023, marking the completion of a seven-year mission. The pristine sample will allow generations of scientists to study the materials present in our early solar system.

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## Airicist

Published on Oct 25, 2016




> After a year orbiting the sun, OSIRIS-REx will make a flyby of Earth in September 2017. Earth's gravitational field will pull the spacecraft towards the planet where it can "borrow" a small amount of Earth's orbital energy. This additional energy is used to increase OSIRIS-REx's orbital inclination and sling it into space for a rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu.

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## Airicist

Does Earth have Trojan Asteroids? OSIRIS-Rex is searching

Published on Feb 9, 2017




> In February 2017, NASA's OSIRS-REx mission will begin searching for Earth's Trojan Asteroids. Trojan asteroids are common at the L4 and L5 Lagrange points of other planets, but Earth's Trojan asteroids are difficult to detect from Earth, since they appear close to the Sun. So far, 2010 TK7 is the only confirmed Earth trojan. Jim Green, the Director of Planetary Science at NASA, is explaining how OSIRS-REx mission will search for trojan asteroids on its way to asteroid Benu.

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## Airicist

How and Why Is NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission Visiting Asteroid Bennu?

Published on Dec 3, 2018




> On Dec. 3, 2018, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrives at its target, near-Earth asteroid Bennu. Here, the team explains mission goals and the process of approach and rendezvous. OSIRIS-REx will study Bennu for two years before collecting a sample to return to Earth.

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## Airicist

OSIRIS-Rex arrived at asteroid Bennu

Published on Dec 3, 2018




> NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu on 3 December 2018. OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) is the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid (near-Earth asteroid Bennu), retrieve surface material and return it to Earth for study in September 2023. The spacecraft was launched by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 configuration rocket from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 8 September 2016, at 23:05 UTC (19:05 EDT).

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## Airicist

Welcome to Bennu press conference - First mission science results

Published on Dec 12, 2018




> At the AGU Fall 2018 meeting, members of the OSIRIS-REx science team shared highlights of their initial up-close studies of the asteroid. Highlights include: detection of water bound up in the clay minerals on the asteroid's surface, a new shape model, and new high-resolution images.

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## Airicist

From the Control Room: OSIRIS-REx Arrives at Asteroid Bennu

Published on Dec 13, 2018




> We have arrived. On Dec. 3, 2018, after two years of travel – and more than a decade of planning and work by the OISRIS-REx team – OSIRIS-REx arrived at its destination: ancient, near-Earth asteroid Bennu. Relive the excitement of Arrival Day from the Mission Support Area at Lockheed Martin.

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## Airicist

Arrival at asteroid Bennu

Published on Dec 29, 2018




> On Dec. 3, 2018, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at its destination: an ancient near-Earth asteroid called Bennu. Members of the mission team reflect on what we will learn by collecting a sample from Bennu, the milestones the mission has reached so far, and the challenges ahead.

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## Airicist

Bennu is an active asteroid

Published on Mar 19, 2019




> NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returned the first scientific observations, revealing that asteroid Bennu is an active active asteroid.  OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) is the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid (near-Earth asteroid Bennu), retrieve surface material and return it to Earth for study in September 2023.

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## Airicist

Asteroid Bennu sample site finalists

Published on Aug 12, 2019




> Since arriving at near-Earth asteroid Bennu in December 2018, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has been studying this small world of boulders, rocks, and loose rubble - and looking for a place to touch down. The goal of OSIRIS-REx is to collect a sample of Bennu in mid-2020, and return it to Earth in late 2023. 
> 
> Bennu turned out to be rockier than anticipated, but mission planners have now identified four sites on its surface that are smooth enough for OSIRIS-REx to collect a sample. The mission will down-select to the final two sites - a primary and a backup - in December 2019. Like the mythological Bennu bird for which the asteroid is named, all of the candidate sample sites refer to birds that can be found in Egypt.

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## Airicist

OSIRIS-REx - Asteroid Bennu candidate sample sites

Published on Aug 12, 2019




> NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has as primary science objective to collect a sample from asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth. After mapping the asteroid’s surface, four candidate sample sites have been selected: Nightingale, Kingfisher, Osprey and Sandpiper. The candidate sample sites refer to birds that can be found in Egypt, as the asteroid is named after the mythological Bennu bird. The the final two sites, a primary and a backup sampling site, will be selected in December 2019.

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## Airicist

Surprises from Asteroid Bennu

Dec 2, 2019




> The OSIRIS-REx team has already pushed the boundaries of scientific exploration -- going from ground-based radar images from Arecibo in Puerto Rico all the way to orbiting a few hundred meters from asteroid Bennu. The team is mere months away from a sample collection attempt at the asteroid surface. Before this attempt, we take a look back at some of the major achievements, surprises and challenges of sampling an asteroid with OSIRIS-REx.

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## Airicist

Asteroid Bennu Backup Sample Site: Osprey

Dec 18, 2019




> The main science goal of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission is to briefly touch down on near-Earth asteroid Bennu and collect a sample of fine-grained material, but the asteroid's unexpected roughness could pose a hazard to the spacecraft. After a year of scoping out Bennu's boulder-scattered surface, the OSIRIS-REx team has officially selected a primary and a backup sample collection site. The team concluded that a site designated "Osprey" - located in a crater just north of Bennu's equatorial bulge - is the best backup location in the event that OSIRIS-REx is unable to collect a sample from the primary site ("Nightingale").

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## Airicist

OSIRIS-REx meets Bennu’s surprises

Sep 23, 2020




> The OSIRIS-REx team has already pushed the boundaries of scientific exploration — going from ground-based radar images from Arecibo in Puerto Rico all the way to orbiting a few hundred meters from asteroid Bennu. The team is mere days away from a sample collection attempt at the asteroid surface. Before this attempt, we take a look back at some of the major achievements, surprises and challenges of sampling an asteroid with OSIRIS-REx.

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## Airicist

Tour of Asteroid Bennu

Oct 8, 2020




> When NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu in December 2018, its close-up images confirmed what mission planners had predicted nearly two decades before: Bennu is made of loose material weakly clumped together by gravity, and shaped like a spinning top. This major validation, however, was accompanied by a major surprise. Scientists had expected Bennu’s surface to consist of fine-grained material like a sandy beach, but were instead greeted by a rugged world littered with boulders – the size of cars, the size of houses, the size of football fields. Now, thanks to laser altimetry data and high-resolution imagery from OSIRIS-REx, we can take a tour of Bennu’s remarkable terrain.

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## Airicist

Watch NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft attempt to capture a sample of Asteroid Bennu

Streamed live Oct 21, 2020




> Let's do this, OSIRIS-REx! Time to journey #ToBennuAndBack. Tune in to our live broadcast as our spacecraft descends to the surface of asteroid Bennu, touches down for a few seconds & attempts to capture regolith (rocks and dust) using a “Touch-And-Go,” or TAG, maneuver. The spacecraft must target Bennu’s rocky surface with great accuracy, touching down within a rocky area just 52 ft (16 m) in diameter. During the maneuver, the spacecraft and the asteroid will be approximately 207 million miles (334 million km) from Earth.
> 
> Live coverage from Lockheed Martin's facility in Denver, Colorado, with mission managers from the University of Arizona, Lockheed Martin, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center begins at 5 p.m. EDT. 
> 
> The spacecraft is scheduled to depart Bennu in 2021, and to deliver the collected sample to Earth on Sep. 24, 2023. It will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth, and the largest sample returned from space since the Apollo era.

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## Airicist

NASA celebrates Osiris-Rex touchdown on Asteroid Bennu!

Oct 20, 2020




> NASA's Osiris-Rex successfully touches Asteroid Bennu and collects samples to bring back to Earth for further observation and analysis. The samples are 200 million miles away and will be back to study in 2023.

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## Airicist

OSIRIS-REx touches asteroid Bennu

Oct 21, 2020




> NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft unfurled its robotic arm Oct. 20, 2020, and in a first for the agency, briefly touched an asteroid to collect dust and pebbles from the surface for delivery to Earth in 2023.
> 
> This well-preserved, ancient asteroid, known as Bennu, is currently more than 200 million miles (321 million kilometers) from Earth. Bennu offers scientists a window into the early solar system as it was first taking shape billions of years ago and flinging ingredients that could have helped seed life on Earth.

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## Airicist

OSIRIS-REx’s “Touch-And-Go” on Asteroid Bennu

Oct 21, 2020




> NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission collected a sample from Asteroid Bennu on 20 October 2020,using a “Touch-And-Go,” or TAG, maneuver. Site Nightingale is located in Bennu’s northern hemisphere, in a crater 460 feet (140 meters) wide. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) is NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission. 
> Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

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## Airicist

NASA Science Live: Our first attempt to sample asteroid Bennu

October 22, 2020




> NASA has touched the surface of asteroid Bennu to collect the agency’s first ever asteroid sample, which will one day shed new insights on the history of our solar system… so what’s next? Join NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission experts and ask them your questions! Submit them using #ToBennuAndBack and tune in today at 6:15 p.m. ET as they walk you through new images and videos captured by the spacecraft as it descended down to the asteroid's surface.

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## Airicist2

How far did OSIRIS-REx plunge into asteroid Bennu?

Jul 7, 2022




> On October 20, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected a sample of near-Earth asteroid Bennu. This “TAG event” revealed surprising details about Bennu’s loosely-packed surface. The spacecraft’s arm sank almost half a meter into the asteroid, far deeper than expected, confirming that Bennu’s surface is incredibly weak. During the event, OSIRIS-REx collected a handful of material and kicked up roughly six tons of loose rock. It will return its sample of Bennu to Earth in September 2023.






Asteroid Bennu’s surprising surface revealed by NASA spacecraft

Jul 7, 2022




> Near-Earth asteroid Bennu is a rubble pile of rocks and boulders left over from the formation of the solar system. On October 20, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touched down on Bennu and collected a sample for return to Earth. During this “TAG event,” the spacecraft’s arm sank far deeper into the asteroid than expected, confirming that Bennu’s surface is incredibly weak. Now, scientists have used data from OSIRIS-REx to revisit the TAG event and better understand how Bennu’s loose upper layers are held together.



'Surprise – Again! Asteroid Bennu Reveals its Surface is Like a Plastic Ball Pit"

July 7, 2022

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