OSIRIS-REx returned NASA’s first asteroid samples from Bennu.
NASA launched OSIRIS-REx in 2016 to study the near-Earth asteroid 101955 Bennu. The spacecraft arrived in 2018, mapped the small body, and collected surface material during a brief touch-and-go manoeuvre on 20 October 2020.
Its sample capsule returned to Earth on 24 September 2023, landing in Utah. Scientists are studying the carbon-rich material for clues about the early Solar System and the ingredients that may have helped produce water and organic compounds on the young Earth.
OSIRIS-REx differs from Hayabusa, which returned the first asteroid samples overall from Itokawa. After releasing its capsule, OSIRIS-REx continued under the name OSIRIS-APEX toward another asteroid, Apophis.