OSIRIS-REx
Asteroid Bennu, Sample Return and Planetary Defense
OSIRIS-REx mapped asteroid Bennu, collected a sample by touch-and-go in 2020, and returned it to Earth in 2023; the spacecraft then continued as OSIRIS-APEX.
Object type
Sample-return spacecraft
Target / region
Asteroid Bennu
Known for
Returning asteroid material to Earth
TransitSatellite connection
Mission objective and outcome: Returning asteroid material to Earth
Objective
What the mission set out to do
OSIRIS-REx mapped asteroid Bennu, collected a sample by touch-and-go in 2020, and returned it to Earth in 2023; the spacecraft then continued as OSIRIS-APEX.
osiris-rex is a sample-return spacecraft focused on Asteroid Bennu; its mission record separates planned measurements from the results actually documented.
Mission design
How the plan matched the target
For osiris-rex, the defining design choice was to use a sample-return spacecraft for returning asteroid material to earth. That choice determines what the spacecraft can observe, how it moves or operates, and what risks the team must manage.
For osiris-rex, the cited record places the spacecraft at Asteroid Bennu; the engineering profile keeps its instrument, power, communications, and navigation details separate from the mission narrative.
Results
What the mission contributed
Documented result: Returning asteroid material to Earth. For osiris-rex, that result is the evidence users can compare with the original objective and source record.
The connected engineering entry for osiris-rex explains which hardware produced or supported these measurements.
TransitSatellite connections
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