OSIRIS-REx, NASA, Washington, D.C., USA

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

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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