NASA’s OSIRIS-REx carried the first successful United States asteroid sample to Earth. It collected material from asteroid Bennu in October 2020 and delivered the sample on September 24, 2023.
The spacecraft used a touch-and-go manoeuvre at Bennu’s surface. Its collection head briefly contacted the asteroid and released nitrogen gas, stirring loose rocks and dust into the sampler.
OSIRIS-REx returned its capsule to the Utah Test and Training Range. NASA renamed the continuing spacecraft OSIRIS-APEX, which was sent onward to study asteroid Apophis after its original mission.
Hayabusa returned the first asteroid samples overall, from the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa, in 2010. OSIRIS-REx was the first American mission to return asteroid material.