OSIRIS REx

If you plan to visit asteroid Bennu, you'll need a new map. The International Astronomical Union and NASA have decided that features of the asteroid currently being orbited by the space agency's unmanned OSIRIS-REx deep-space probe will be named after "birds and bird-like creatures in mythology."

​​NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu has already brought about landmark moments for space exploration. Mission control has now moved the probe into tighter and tighter loops around the asteroid, setting a new record for the closest ever orbit of a planetary body. ​

​​NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is not due to bring home samples from the asteroid Bennu until some time in 2023, but already it is turning up some fascinating discoveries about this distant world, the latest being a far rockier surface than anticipated.

​As NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe starts to really ​close in on its target, scientists here on Earth have made a surprising discovery about the asteroid Bennu. Newly published research describes how the asteroid is rotating as you might expect, but these rotations appear to be speeding up over time.

​​A daring mission to sample a distant asteroid is starting to get very interesting, with NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe setting off some New Year's fireworks of its own in an eight-second burn to enter orbit around Bennu.

NASA’s asteroid-hunting probe OSIRIS-REx, only arrived at the asteroid Bennu a week ago, and it’s already made a startling discovery. After analyzing data gathered by the craft, the team found that Bennu is rich in water molecules, locked away in clay minerals.

After two years and two months of travel across 1.2 billion mi (two billion km), NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft has reached the asteroid Bennu.

As part of preparations for a highly anticipated asteroid encounter, NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe has successfully carried out an important dress rehearsal starring the robotic arm that will be used to grab samples of dust and rock from the surface.​

​​The lengthy two-year journey of OSIRIS-REx toward the asteroid Bennu has entered its final leg, with the probe officially beginning the approach phase of its mission. This will see it slowly close in on the chunk of space rock before snatching a sample for scientists to study here on Earth.​

​​On September 22, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully completed a gravity assist flyby with Earth, which has set the probe on a course to rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu next year. At its closest point, OSIRIS-REx flew within 10,711 miles of Earth's surface.

For the past year, NASA's OSIRIS-REx satellite has been on a solar orbit in our galaxy, readying itself for its ultimate goal of heading out to the asteroid Bennu and grabbing a sample from its surface. On Friday, Sept 22, it'll finally head off to its target with a little help from Earth's gravity.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sampling mission is on its way. At 7:05 pm EDT, the unmanned probe lifted off atop an Atlas/Centaur booster from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.