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.
Discussion and writing prompts
1. NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission traveled millions of miles to collect a sample from asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth. Why is it valuable for scientists to study an asteroid sample in laboratories on Earth instead of relying only on spacecraft observations?
2. Collecting a sample from an asteroid is much more difficult than collecting a rock on Earth. What engineering challenges do you think NASA had to solve to successfully land on Bennu, collect a sample, and safely return it to Earth?
3. Asteroids have changed very little since the solar system formed over 4.5 billion years ago. Why do scientists often describe asteroids as "time capsules" of the early solar system?
Background Information
Grades 3 through 8
- NASA eClips Our World: The Stories Moon Rocks Tell (video)
- NASA Space Place Asteroid or Meteor: What's the Difference? (website)
- NASA Space Place What Is An Asteroid? (website)
Grades 3 through 12
- NASA eClips Ask SME: Lunar Sample Curator Dr. Ryan Zeigler (video)
- NASA eClips Ask SME: Artist and Astromaterials 3D Science Principal Investigator Erika Blumenfeld (video)
- NASA Asteroid and Comet Resources (webpage)
Grades 4 through 12
- NASA eClips Real World: Small Bodies Orbiting the Sun (video)
- NASA eClips Real World: Using Math and New Tech to Study Lunar Rocks (video)
- NASA Asteroid Watch (website)
- NASA How Does NASA Spot a Near-Earth Asteroid? (video)
Grades 5 through 12
- NASA JPL What's That Space Rock? (website)
Grades 6 through 12
- NASA OSIRIS-REx (website)
- NASA Planetary Defense at NASA (website)
- NASA Center for Near Earth Object Studies (website)
- NASA NEOWISE (website)
Activities
Grades 3 through 5
- NASA Modeling an Asteroid (webpage)
Grades 3 through 8
- NASA eClips Our World: Crater Maps and Earth Landforms (pdf)
- NASA eClips Guide Lites: Crater Maps (pdf)
- NASA Space Place Make Asteroids You Can Eat! (webpage)
- NASAatHome Asteroid Activity (video)
Grades 3 through 12
- NASA Astromaterials 3D (interactive)
Grades 4 through 12
- NASA Eyes on Asteroids (interactive)
Grades 7 through 9
- Teach Engineering Asteroids (webpage)
Grades 8 through 12
- NASA and Destination Asteroid (website)