OSIRIS-REx Finds Fragments of Minor Planet Vesta on Near-Earth Asteroid Bennu

In 2019, scientists from the OSIRIS-REx team discovered several unusually bright boulders on the surface of near-Earth asteroid Bennu in images acquired by the OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS).

New hyperspectral data collected by the OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer (OVIRS) indicate that these boulders have the same distinctive composition as the meteorites that come from Vesta, the second largest object in the main asteroid belt after the dwarf planet Ceres.

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Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / University of Arizona.

The bright boulders (circled in the images) on the surface of near-Earth asteroid Bennu are pyroxene-rich material from Vesta; some bright material appear to be individual rocks (left)--

--while others appear to be clasts within larger boulders (right).

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To Bennu and Back: OSIRIS-REx Mission Overview

OSIRIS-REx -- NASA's first asteroid sampling spacecraft -- is on a seven-year mission to collect a sample of material from a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu and return it to Earth for study.

The hydrated, carbon-rich material that the spacecraft retrieves will help generations of scientists unlock the mysteries of the early Solar System.

In this video, the OSIRIS-REx mission design is illustrated in detail, through artist concept animations, data visualizations, launch footage, and imagery from the spacecraft itself.

Each phase of the mission is depicted, from launch through sample return, providing an in-depth look at its journey to Bennu and back.

NASA's primary asteroid Bennu sample site location (called Nightingale) and backup site (Osprey) are profiled. The space agency's OSIRIS-REx will attempt to collect samples of the space rock in Aug. 2020.