After a four-year journey, NASA's explorer OSIRIS-REx will arrive at the asteroid "Bennu" on 20th Oct for sample collection. This is the second asteroid sample collection and return mission after the Japanese explorer Hayabusa. It is also the largest sample return mission from space since the Apollo program.

Since the surface of Bennu is covered with boulders, the explorer may be damaged if there is any mistake during the landing. Therefore, after months of works on analysing Bennu's terrain, NASA finally chose a rocky area named "Nightingale", located in Bennu's northern hemisphere, with a diameter of about 16 meters, as the sampling site. After arriving at the surface of the asteroid, the explorer will collect rocks and soil with the sampling arm immediately. The goal is to bring at least 60 grams of sample back to Earth. By analysing the samples, scientists could understand the features and resources of the early Solar System as well as the near-Earth environment.

After completion of the sample collection, the explorer will return to Earth in 2023. Let's look forward to the gifts that OSIRIS-REx will bring us!

More information: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/osiris-rex-begins-its-countdown-to-tag