NASA released the first close-up photos of the largest asteroid sample ever collected

Tech Insider
A circular piece of the container holding the Bennu asteroid sample with black rocks from the asteroid on it
The sample collector with a pile of asteroid material resting on it.

NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold

Photos show the 3.86 billion-mile journey of NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample mission from start to finish

Tech Insider
OSIRIS REx nasa spacecraft bennu asteroid sampling lockheed martin
Artist's illustration of NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe sampling an asteroid.

Lockheed Martin

NASA will preserve asteroid samples from OSIRIS-Rex for centuries to come so that scientists not even born yet can study them

Tech Insider
The 2016 takeoff os OSIRIS-REx.
NASA first launched OSIRIS-REx seven years ago. Now, it's returning to Earth bearing a sample from the asteroid Bennu.

United Launch Alliance via NASA

NASA scientists plan to bake, slice, and fire lasers at the asteroid sample from OSIRIS-REx to understand the creation of our solar system

Tech Insider
osiris rex asteroid bennu illustration nasa
An illustration of OSIRIS-REx in orbit around asteroid Bennu.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab

NASA scientists calculated the exact date an asteroid could hit Earth with the force of at least 24 nuclear bombs. Thankfully, it's a long way off.

Tech Insider
An annotated image shows the diamond-shaped Bennu floating in space, pointed to by an arrow reading
An asteroid Bennu, a city-killer sized cosmic object, has a 1/2700 chance of hitting us in 2182.

NASA/Insider

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