NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe sidled up to the diamond-shaped asteroid Bennu today (Dec. 3), bringing an end to a circuitous deep-space chase that lasted 27 months.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe sidled up to the diamond-shaped asteroid Bennu today (Dec. 3), bringing an end to a circuitous deep-space chase that lasted 27 months.

The OSIRIS-REx asteroid-sampling mission delivered pieces of asteroid Bennu to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023, before moving on to study asteroid Apophis in 2029.

A microscope image of a dark Bennu particle, about a millimeter long, with a crust of bright phosphate. To the right is a smaller fragment that broke off.

Sampling occurs in 2020. Another potential problem, in terms of finding a safe site to sample Bennu's regolith, is the preponderance of boulders on the surface.

In October 2020, NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft took a bite out of asteroid Bennu.Before Osiris-Rex returns to Earth to deliver its bounty, it took a moment to revisit the scene of the heist. The ...

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made an astonishing discovery about the asteroid it has been orbiting since December: the rock is actively spewing material out into space. The asteroid, named Bennu ...

On Aug. 17, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft obtained the first images of its target asteroid Bennu from a distance of 1.4 million miles, or almost six times the distance between the Earth and Moon.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is not due to bring home samples from the asteroid Bennu until some time in 2023, but already it is turning up some fascinating discoveries about this distant world ...

The United States' first asteroid-sampling probe has arrived at its target, acing a deep-space rendezvous about 76 million miles (122 million kilometers) from Earth. NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft ...

Having nearly completed its long journey to the asteroid Bennu and collected a couple of orbital records along the way, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is now being readied for its most critical ...