Planet Earth is about to receive a special delivery—the biggest sample yet from an asteroid.
A NASA spacecraft will fly by Earth on Sunday and drop off what is expected to be at least a cupful of rubble it grabbed from the asteroid Bennu, closing out a seven-year quest.
Sunday's landing concludes a 4 billion-mile journey highlighted by the rendezvous with the carbon-rich Bennu, a unique pogo stick-style touchdown and sample grab, a jammed lid that sent some of the stash spilling into space, and now the return of NASA's first asteroid samples. In this image from video released by NASA, the Osiris-Rex spacecraft touches the surface of asteroid Bennu on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. On Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will fly by Earth and drop off what is expected to be at least a cupful of rubble it grabbed from the asteroid Bennu, closing out a seven-year quest. Credit: NASA via AP, FileThis fall is what NASA is calling Asteroid Autumn, with three asteroid missions marking major milestones.
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