Scientists from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission recently delivered remarkable findings about asteroid 101955 Bennu after the mission returned its samples to Earth in 2023. While scientists revealed the OSIRIS-REx findings this week, a newly discovered asteroid reached level three on the 10-point Torino space impactor hazard scale, the second highest rating given to an object since the scale was introduced in the 1990s.
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, launched in 2016, arrived at Bennu in late 2018 and started orbiting the asteroid, which was thought to be a remnant of the solar system’s formation. OSIRIS-REx found that Bennu’s surface was far rougher than thought, and mission controllers spent years finding a spot on Bennu’s where the spacecraft could quickly touchdown and gather samples.