The OSIRIS-REX spacecraft will attempt to descend to the boulder-packed surface of asteroid Bennu on Wednesday ((21 Oct)), Australian time, and snatch a handful of rubble. It will be America's first crack at collecting asteroid samples for return to Earth, a feat accomplished so far only by Japan.
NASA aims to take a chip off an asteroid and bring it back to Earth
OSIRIS-REx grabs a sample from the surface of Bennu - artists impression Source: Supplied-NASA
A NASA spacecraft is experiencing its own close encounter with an extra-terrestrial object. Scientists hope to bring material from an asteroid back to earth to help them find out more about the origins of the universe.
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