OSIRIS-REx
NASA's first asteroid sample-return mission — it orbited the carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid Bennu, mapped it in detail, and used a touch-and-go manoeuvre to grab a large sample, returning 121.6 grams to Earth in 2023. The spacecraft continued on as OSIRIS-APEX to study the asteroid Apophis.
Imagery
OSIRIS-REx lift into thermal vacuum testing
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft being lifted into the thermal vacuum chamber at Lockheed Martin for environmental testing.
2016
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center · NASA media (public domain)
This is the small-body-missions view of OSIRIS-REx. See its main mission page for the full profile.
Targets & sample
Mission & science
- Goals
- Return a pristine sample of a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid and characterise its orbit, including the Yarkovsky effect.
- Engineering milestones
- Set records for the smallest body orbited; performed the TAG (Touch-and-Go) sample collection in 2020.
- Science discoveries
- Bennu is a rubble pile that ejects particles; its samples are rich in carbon and water-bearing clays.
- Sample return
- 121.6 g, recovered at the Utah Test and Training Range in September 2023.
- Outcome
- Success; continued as OSIRIS-APEX toward Apophis.
Knowledge connections
- Operated byNASA
- Part of programNew Frontiers program
- Launched byAtlas V
- Launched fromCape Canaveral Space Force Station
- Mission target101955 Bennu
- Visited101955 Bennu
- Returned samples from101955 Bennu
- Member of groupSample-Return Mission
- Member of groupRendezvous Mission
- Member of groupOrbiter Mission
- Orbited101955 Bennu
- Collected sampleBennu Sample (OSIRIS-REx)
- Mission includesOSIRIS-REx Sample-Return Capsule
- Associated withApproach & Characterization
- Tracked byDeep Space Network (DSN)
- Carries instrumentOCAMS (OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite)
- Associated withOSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2 Sample Asteroids
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
- NASA JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics
Orbital data, ephemerides, and small-body parameters for planets, asteroids, and comets.