101955 bennu
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NASA to Reveal What’s Inside the Asteroid Canister: Live Stream
After being dropped off on Earth by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, pieces of asteroid Bennu will be revealed to the public for the first time on Wednesday. NASA will be showing off its first asteroid sample at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on October 11 at 11:00 a.m. ET (that translates to October 12 at…
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Scientists Spot Black Dust and Debris on Canister Containing Asteroid Sample
Following a nearly three-year journey through space, the canister containing samples from asteroid Bennu has finally been opened. The OSIRIS-REx mission team removed the initial lid of the sample canister, which was placed inside a glovebox to keep out contaminants, on Tuesday at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the space agency announced. Once the…
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Walking on Asteroid Bennu Would Be Like Stepping Into a Ball Pit, NASA Says
In October 2020, a small spacecraft briefly touched down on an asteroid to snag a piece of it to bring to Earth. Almost two years later, scientists have learned that if the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft had extended its stay even a tiny bit longer, it would have sunk right into the asteroid.
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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Is Racing Back to Earth With a Scoop of Asteroid
OSIRIS-REx, a NASA spacecraft tasked with collecting rocks and dust from a nearby asteroid named Bennu, is coming back home after almost five years away. The spacecraft, officially named Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, officially fired its engines to begin its Earthward journey on May 10. Its return trip will take two…