Real World: Close Encounters with an Asteroid
Picture this. NASA sends a spacecraft to land on an asteroid, grab a piece of that asteroid, and then send that sample back to Earth to study. Learn more about all that NASA can learn about the formation of the Solar System from the close encounter of OSIRIS-REx with near-Earth asteroid Bennu.
Background Information
Grades 6 through 8
- Asteroid and Comet Watch
- Asteroid Watch
- Federal Government Releases National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Plan
- OSIRIS-REx
- Planetary Defense Coordination Office eClips Real World: Small Bodies Orbiting the Sun
- Center for Near Earth Object Studies
- How Does NASA Spot a Near-Earth Asteroid?
- What Is An Asteroid?
Grades 6 through 12
Activities
Grades 6 through 8
- Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science: OSIRIS-REx
- Modeling an Asteroid
- Make Asteroids You Can Eat!
Grades K through 8