by The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will soon return to Earth. What's on board could reveal the extraterrestrial origins of life on Earth.
On Sept. 24, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will come hurtling back through Earth's atmosphere after a years-long journey to Bennu, a "potentially hazardous asteroid" with a 1 in 2700 chance of smashing cataclysmically into Earth, the highest odds of any identified space object.
The goal of the mission?
To see whether life on Earth came from outer space.
But for a nail-biting 22 months, scientists wondered whether they'd be able to land the spacecraft on the asteroid at all.
That the mission ultimately succeeded is in part due to Queen guitarist Brian May, who meticulously created 3D images of the rubble pile to help the mission leaders identify safe landing spots.
Thanks to that successful landing, OSIRIS-REx is now returning from its mission with a 2-ounce sample (60 grams) of Bennu's surface that could contain extraterrestrial precursors to life on our planet.
Source
On Sept. 24, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will come hurtling back through Earth's atmosphere after a years-long journey to Bennu, a "potentially hazardous asteroid" with a 1 in 2700 chance of smashing cataclysmically into Earth, the highest odds of any identified space object.
The goal of the mission?
To see whether life on Earth came from outer space.
But for a nail-biting 22 months, scientists wondered whether they'd be able to land the spacecraft on the asteroid at all.
That the mission ultimately succeeded is in part due to Queen guitarist Brian May, who meticulously created 3D images of the rubble pile to help the mission leaders identify safe landing spots.
Thanks to that successful landing, OSIRIS-REx is now returning from its mission with a 2-ounce sample (60 grams) of Bennu's surface that could contain extraterrestrial precursors to life on our planet.
Source
