OSIRIS-REx

Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer

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Why Study Bennu?

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Analyzing Bennu Samples

OSIRIS-REx is the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid. It returned to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023, to drop off a capsule with material from asteroid Bennu. After dropping off the sample capsule through Earth's atmosphere, the spacecraft was renamed OSIRIS-APEX and sent on a new mission to explore asteroid Apophis in 2029.

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 Sample Landing

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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

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