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This artist’s concept shows the trajectory and configuration of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during Matchpoint rehearsal, which is the final time the mission will practice the initial steps of the sample collection sequence before touching down on Bennu.

Artist’s concept of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft preparing to take a sample from asteroid Bennu.

The high gain antenna and solar arrays were installed on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft prior to it moving to environmental testing.

Artist's impression of the arrival of OSIRIS-REx at its target.

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This artist’s concept shows the trajectory and configuration of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during Matchpoint rehearsal, which is the final time the mission will practice the initial steps of the sample collection sequence before touching down on asteroid Bennu.NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

This is an artist’s concept of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft preparing to take a sample from asteroid Bennu. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris MeaneyNASA/Goddard/Chris Meaney

The high gain antenna and solar arrays were installed on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft prior to it moving to environmental testing.Lockheed Martin Corporation

Artist's impression of the arrival of OSIRIS-REx at its target.NASA

Mission name: OSIRIS-REx

Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer

OSIRIS-REx is NASA's first sample return mission to an asteroid.

Launch Date September 08, 2016
Arrival Date December 03, 2018
Mission TypeOrbiter/Sample Return
TargetAsteroid

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Mission Overview
NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft is the first U.S. mission to return samples from an asteroid to Earth, addressing multiple NASA Solar System Exploration objectives. OSIRIS-REx launched from Cape Canaveral at 7:05 p.m. EDT on September 8, 2016. OSIRIS-REx completed its 1.2 billion-mile (2 billion-kilometer) journey to arrive at the asteroid Bennu on December 3, 2018. The spacecraft successfully collected and stowed samples from the asteroid in October of 2020 in preparation for its return to Earth.

Relevance to Astrobiology
As the leftover debris from the solar system formation process that began over four billion years ago, asteroids can teach us a lot about the history of the Sun and planets. OSIRIS-REx traveled to Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid that records the earliest history of our Solar System, and is bringing a piece of it back to Earth. Bennu may contain the molecular precursors to the origin of life and the Earth’s oceans. Bennu is also a potentially hazardous asteroid that has a relatively high probability of impacting the Earth late in the 22nd century. OSIRIS-REx will determine Bennu’s physical and chemical properties, which could be critical for developing an impact mitigation mission in the future.

The Astrobiologists
Numerous astrobiologists supported by the NASA Astrobiology Program will be taking part in studying materials returned by the OSIRIS-REx mission.

The Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory (AAL) of the Goddard Center for Astrobiology (GCA) is dedicated to the study of organic compounds derived from past and future sample return missions, and is an active participant in the OSIRIS-REx mission. The GCA was a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) (CAN 7).

Dr. Scott Sandford, member of the former NAI Ames Research Center Team, plays a number of roles on the mission and will participate in the study of the returned samples, with an emphasis on the analyses of any organic materials they contain.

Directed & Edited by Mike Toillion / NASA Astrobiology Program

Mission news and discoveries

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission Awarded Robert Goddard Memorial Trophy (NASA)March 26, 2024

NASA’S OSIRIS-REx Curation Team Reveals Remaining Asteroid Sample (NASA)January 22, 2024

NASA Asteroid Sampling Mission Renamed OSIRIS-APEX for New Journey (NASA)December 23, 2023

All News

Major mission findings

An artist representation of the OSIRIS-REx mission.

December 10, 2018Water on Bennu

Data from the mission’s two spectrometers, the OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS) and the OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES), revealed the presence of hydroxl molecules, which contain oxygen and hydrogen atoms bonded together. The hydroxyl groups are expected to exist globally across the asteroid in water-bearing clay minerals.

This view of asteroid Bennu ejecting particles from its surface on January 6 was created by combining two images taken by the NavCam 1 imager onboard NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.

January 06, 2019Properties of Bennu

The closeup views of Bennu provided by OSIRIS-REx have already yielded numerous findings about the asteroid’s structure and physical properties. This includes features on the surface, and observations of particles being ejected from the asteroid.

Mission Facts

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This image captured by the StowCam camera on OSIRIS-REx shows the collector head secured onto the capture ring in the Sample Return Capsule.

OSIRIS-REx is about the size of a 15-passenger van, so for perspective, this is site Osprey superimposed over a standard parking lot. Osprey (within the white circle) covers roughly 6 parking spaces. The width of each parking space is 9 ft (2.7 m).

The University of Arizona’s camera suite, OCAMS

Osiris-Rxe from Astrobiology: The Story of Our Search for Life in the Universe.

The OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission (OTES) bolted to a cradle in a cleanroom at Arizona State University. A red lens cover nestles within the angular sunshade, keeping the optics clean. Its color is designed as a signal to engineers to remove it before launch

This image shows the OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where it was built, prior to shipping to Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver.

The sample site Osprey on asteroid Bennu from OSIRIS-REx during an 820-foot (250-meter) reconnaissance pass over the site. The pass was designed to provide high-resolution imagery to identify the best areas within the site to collect a sample.

Captured on Oct. 20 during the OSIRIS-REx mission’s Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event, this image shows the SamCam imager’s field of view at the moment before the NASA spacecraft touched down on asteroid Bennu’s surface.

Artist illustration of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft as it will approach the asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of ancient, pristine solar system material. The pick-up”tag” is scheduled for October 20, 2020.

Sample CollectionA Successful Touch and Go of Bennu

OSIRIS-REx successfully stowed the spacecraft’s Sample Return Capsule (SRC) and its abundant sample of asteroid Bennu on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, marking the end of one of the most challenging parts of the mission.

Parking on an AsteroidSite Osprey on Bennu

OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is about the size of a 15-passenger van. For perspective, site Osprey (white circle) is superimposed over a standard parking lot (parking spaces are 2.7 meters). Osprey covers roughly 6 parking spaces. (NASA/Goddard/U Arizona)

Eyes on an AsteroidOCAMS Camera Suite

The University of Arizona’s camera suite, OCAMS, is the eyes of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. Three cameras compose the instrument – MapCam, PolyCam and SamCam.

En Route to BennuOsiris-REx launched on Sept. 8, 2016

Osiris-REx features in Issue #3 of Astrobiology: The Story of Our Search for Life in the Universe.

Instruments: SpectrometersOSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES)

OTES conducts surveys to map mineral and chemical abundances and to take the asteroid Bennu’s temperature.

Instruments: SpectrometersOSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (ORVIS)

OVIRS measures visible and near infrared light from the asteroid Bennu, and could be used to identify water and organic materials.

Osprey on BennuOSIRIS-REx Flies over Sample Site Osprey

Osprey is the backup sample collection site for the OSIRIS-REx mission. The primary site is Nightingale, and the first collection attempt is Oct 20, 2020.

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