This Aug. 11, 2020 photo shows the sampling arm of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during a rehearsal for an approach to the "Nightingale" sample site on the surface of the asteroid Bennu.

A near-Earth asteroid named Bennu has a loosely packed surface similar to a pit of plastic balls, according to NASA scientists. A spacecraft collected a sample from the asteroid in October 2020 ...

You can zoom in on photos posted to the NASA website to see more detail.. OSIRIS-REx's van-sized craft visited Bennu, scraped and collected material from the asteroid’s surface and sealed it ...

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid probe is giving scientists an even better look at the surface of the space rock known as Bennu now that it’s moved … ...

Photo of Asteroid Bennu Taken by OSIRIS. Published: 31 Aug 2018, 13:27 ... the mission team will spend the next few months learning as much as possible about Bennu’s size, shape, surface ...

Bennu's rocky surface poses a number of unique challenges for OSIRIS-REx, which launched to the far-off asteroid in 2016 to collect a sample and return it to Earth as the first U.S. craft to do so.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid probe is giving scientists an even better look at the surface of the space rock known as Bennu now that it’s moved even closer to the object. A new photo posted by ...

Asteroid Bennu wasn’t what NASA expected. Instead of a smooth surface for sample collection, OSIRIS-REx encountered a chaotic, rocky terrain that made its mission incredibly difficult. This ...

Bennu is a dark, carbon-rich asteroid just 1,722 feet (0.3 miles) across with a diamond-like shape. It's a potentially hazardous object with a 1-in-1,800 chance of impacting Earth between 2178 and ...

From there, it orbited Bennu, analyzing its surface to determine potential collection sites for the sample needed. The spacecraft eventually landed on the asteroid on October 20, 2020, and ...

On Sunday, NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex mission will deliver a sample it collected from asteroid Bennu, completing a seven-year journey that could provide insights into how life originated on Earth.

A near-Earth asteroid named Bennu has a loosely packed surface similar to a pit of plastic balls, according to NASA scientists. A spacecraft collected a sample from the asteroid in October 2020 ...