OSIRIS-REx
Occurred 3 years ago
Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer
Mission Type
Sample Return
Destination
Asteroid Bennu
sample DELIVERED
Sept. 24, 2023
Objective
Collect asteroid sample and deliver it to Earth
Mission Overview
Launched on Sept. 8, 2016, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, spacecraft traveled to a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36). It collected a sample of rocks and dust from Bennu's surface on October 20, 2020.
The spacecraft delivered the sample to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023, when it released a capsule with grains of Bennu over Earth’s atmosphere. The capsule parachuted to the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range, where the OSIRIS-REx team retrieved it.
Scientists hope the Bennu sample will reveal whether asteroids that collided with Earth billions of years ago thereby delivered water and other ingredients for life to our planet.
OSIRIS-REx Full Mission Gallery
70 Images
| OSIRIS-REx Mission Milestones | ||
| Date | Activity | Location |
| Sept. 8, 2016 | Launch | Cape Canaveral, FL |
| Sept. 22, 2017 | Earth Gravity Assist: OSIRIS-REx used Earth’s gravity to slingshot itself on a path toward the asteroid Bennu, adjusting its orbital plane. The mission team used the flyby as an opportunity to test and calibrate the spacecraft’s instrument suite. | Earth |
| Aug. 2018 | Asteroid Operations Began/First Bennu Image: The spacecraft got its first glimpse of Bennu in August 2018, sending back a grainy image taken at a distance of about 1.4 million miles (2.3 million kilometers). | 1.4 million miles from Bennu. |
| Nov. 2018 | First Detailed Imagery: During a slow approach to Bennu, OSIRIS-REx sent back detailed images showing the asteroid’s shape and some surface features. | Thousands of miles from Bennu |
| Dec. 3, 2018 | Asteroid Operations Begin /Start Preliminary Survey – First Close Flybys of Bennu: The spacecraft officially arrived “at” Bennu and began operations around the asteroid. | Bennu |
| Dec. 31, 2018 | First Orbit Insertion: The spacecraft entered orbit around the asteroid for the first time, setting a record for the smallest object ever orbited by a spacecraft. This was the beginning of multiple surveys and orbits of Bennu. The team used the data from these surveys to map the surface of Benni in order to find the best sample site. | Bennu |
| Dec. 12, 2019 | Site Selection: After a year, the mission team selected a sample site called “Nightingale” located in a northern crater 460 feet (140 meters) wide. The crater is thought to be relatively young, and the regolith, or rocks and dust, is freshly exposed. This means the site would likely allow for a pristine sample of the asteroid, giving the team insight into Bennu’s history. One of the biggest challenges was that Bennu has an extremely rocky surface with hazardous boulders. | Bennu |
| February 2020 | Sample Site Flyovers: OSIRIS-REx performed two flyovers — one over the selected sample site, Nightingale, and one over the backup site, Osprey, to collect imagery for the spacecraft to use to target Bennu’s surface during sample collection. | Bennu |
| April 14, 2020 | First TAG Rehearsal: During the mission’s Checkpoint rehearsal, the spacecraft practiced the first two maneuvers of the sample collection event, flying down to within 230 feet of Bennu’s surface. | 230 feet above Bennu |
| Oct. 20, 2020 | TAG: In a first for NASA, briefly touched down on Bennu to collect dust and pebbles from its surface in a maneuver known as “Touch-And-Go” or TAG. | Bennu Surface |
| April 7, 2021 | Imaging the Sample Site: OSIRIS-REx performed a final fly-by of Bennu and captured images of the sample site, revealing how the spacecraft changed the asteroid’s surface. | 2.3 miles from Bennu |
| May 10, 2021 | Departure for Earth: The spacecraft fired its main engines at full throttle for seven minutes – its most significant maneuver since it arrived at Bennu in 2018. This burn thrust the spacecraft away from the asteroid at 600 miles per hour (nearly 1,000 kilometers per hour), setting it on a 2.5-year cruise toward Earth. | Bennu |
| October 2021 | Cleanroom Construction: Construction and commissioning completed for OSIRIS-REx's cleanroom laboratory suite. | NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston |
| June 5-10, 2023 | Glovebox Installation: Installation of custom gloveboxes for hardware disassembly and sample processing in the OSIRIS-REx Clean Room. Full hardware disassembly rehearsal with participation from mission Sample Analysis Team. | NASA Johnson |
| Summer 2023 | Retrieval Rehearsal: Practice Teams rehearse sample capsule retrieval and sample extraction. | Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range, Lockheed Martin, Denver, NASA Johnson |
| Sept. 24, 2023 | Landing Day: Capsule containing the asteroid Bennu sample lands. | Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range |
| Sept. 24, 2023 | Packed for Shipping: Capsule containing the asteroid Bennu sample is disassembled and packaged to be shipped to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. | Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range |
| Sept. 25, 2023 | Sample Arrival: Capsule containing the asteroid Bennu sample arrives at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. | NASA Johnson |
| Sept. 26, 2023 | Curation Begins: OSIRIS-REx sample canister lid is removed; curation process begins. | NASA Johnson |
| Sept. 27, 2023 | Initial Analysis: Quick-look analysis of the sample dust collected from the avionics deck of the sample return capsule begins. | NASA Johnson |
| Oct. 11, 2023 | Big Reveal: NASA reveals the first public images of the asteroid Bennu sample on the TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) head. | NASA Johnson |
| Oct. 20, 2023 | Goal Achieved: OSIRIS-REx achieves mission sample mass requirement from just the rocks and dust found on the outside of the sampler head – 2.48 ounces (70.3 grams). | NASA Johnson |
| November 3, 2023 | On Display: Bennu sample exhibit at the Smithsonian opens to the public. | National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC |
| Jan. 11, 2024 | Hurdle Cleared: Curation team members at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston successfully removed the two fasteners from the sampler head that had prevented the remainder of OSIRIS-REx’s asteroid Bennu sample material from being accessed. | NASA Johnson |
| Feb. 15, 2024 | More Than Double: NASA announces OSIRIS-REx bulk sample mass. The spacecraft delivered 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams) of material from the asteroid Bennu when it returned to Earth; the largest asteroid sample ever collected in space and over twice the mission’s requirement. | NASA Johnson |
| March 1, 2024 | On Display: Bennu sample exhibit opens to the public at Space Center Houston. | Space Center Houston, Houston |
| March 6, 2024 | On Display: Bennu sample goes on display at the University of Arizona. | University of Arizona, Tucson |
| April 1, 2024 | Samples Available: OSIRIS-REx asteroid Bennu sample catalog and first request opportunity announced for scientists from around the world beyond the mission. | NASA Johnson |
| June 26, 2024 | Surprises Within: Surprising phosphate finding in asteroid Bennu sample published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science. | NASA Goddard |
| August 2024 | International Sharing: Transfer of Bennu Sample to JAXA within one year of landing. | JAXA Curation Facility, Sagamihara, Tokyo, Japan |
| Jan. 29, 2025 | Key to Life: Release of a paper sharing results of early studies of asteroid Bennu samples, revealing presence of molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine. | NASA Goddard |
| Dec. 2, 2025 | Sugars, Gums, Grains: Release of three papers covering findings of sugars essential to life, a mysterious, ancient gum-like material, and presolar grains in Bennu samples. | NASA Goddard, NASA’s Ames Research Center, NASA Johnson |
| March 17, 2026 | Networks of Cracks: Release of paper revealing that the porous boulders of Bennu are also riddled with extensive networks of cracks, accounting for unexpectedly high loss of heat observed from the asteroid. | University of Arizona, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Nagoya University in Japan, NASA Johnson |
Explore OSIRIS-APEX
OSIRIS-APEX, a follow-on to OSIRIS-REx, will study the physical changes to asteroid Apophis after the asteroid’s rare close encounter with Earth in 2029.
Learn More about Explore OSIRIS-APEX
