OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer) launched September 8, 2016. It explored the Near Earth Asteroid (101955) Bennu in detail including with the Goddard-built OVIRS instrument. OSIRIS-REx collected a sample in October 2020 and returned it to Earth on September 24, 2023. This sample will help us investigate planet formation and the origin of life, and the data collected at the asteroid will also aid our understanding of asteroids that can impact Earth (Bennu is a potentially hazardous object with a 1-in-2,700 chance of impacting Earth between the years 2175 and 2199). OSIRIS-REx is led by PI Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona and managed by GSFC.
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security--Regolith Explorer) launched September 8, 2016. It explored the Near Earth Asteroid (101955) Bennu in detail including with the Goddard-built OVIRS instrument. OSIRIS-REx collected a sample in October 2020 and returned it to Earth on September 24, 2023. This sample will help us investigate planet formation and the origin of life, and the data collected at the asteroid will also aid our understanding of asteroids that can impact Earth (Bennu is a potentially hazardous object with a 1-in-2,700 chance of impacting Earth between the years 2175 and 2199). OSIRIS-REx is led by PI Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona and managed by GSFC.
Related Publications
2026.
"Visible, near‐, and thermal infrared spectra of asteroid Bennu samples: Relationship to and implications for remote sensing of carbonaceous asteroids.",
Meteoritics & Planetary Science,maps.70176
[10.1111/maps.70176]
[Journal Article/Letter]
2026.
"The H, C and N abundances and isotopic compositions of samples with outer Solar System heritage: asteroid Bennu and the Tarda and Tagish Lake meteorites.",
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta,
424
113-127
[10.1016/j.gca.2026.05.028]
[Journal Article/Letter]
2025.
"The variety and origin of materials accreted by Bennu’s parent asteroid.",
Nature Astronomy,
9
(12):
1785-1802
[10.1038/s41550-025-02631-6]
[Journal Article/Letter]
2025.
"Mineralogical evidence for hydrothermal alteration of Bennu samples.",
Nature Geoscience,
18
(9):
832-839
[10.1038/s41561-025-01741-0]
[Journal Article/Letter]
2026.
"Placing asteroid Bennu’s organic solids in molecular and elemental context with those in aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites.",
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta,
413
33-47
[10.1016/j.gca.2025.09.009]
[Journal Article/Letter]
