OSIRIS REx

Scientists studying the asteroid Bennu are reporting a long-suspected phenomenon whereby extreme temperature fluctuations are fracturing rocks on its surface, a process that could offer clues about the body’s past and possible future.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx unmanned probe has ticked off another key milestone on its epic journey, successfully completing a first practice run of a complex sampling sequence in close proximity to its target asteroid’s surface.

With OSIRIS-REx in close orbit around Bennu, we’ve already seen some pretty amazing up-close shots of the asteroid. And now, NASA has released a full global map of this rocky little world in unprecedented resolution.

Science stands still for no one, and with a new year comes a new calendar of exciting events in spaceflight and exploration. New Atlas rounds up some of the most important milestones to look forward to in 2020.

NASA has made its final selection of the site on asteroid Bennu where the agency's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) deep space probe will collect a sample for return to Earth.

Having nearly completed its long journey to the asteroid Bennu and collected a couple of orbital records along the way, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is now being readied for its most critical maneuver, sample collection.

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.