What can an asteroid tell us about life on Earth? How can its orbit predict an asteroid strike on our planet? NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is searching for answers as it studies the asteroid Bennu. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft launched in 2016 and arrived near the asteroid in 2018. Since then, it has been mapping and surveying Bennu. Now, the mission team is preparing for a big moment, touching the asteroid surface and collecting a sample to return to Earth. Described as a time capsule of the earliest history of our solar system, Bennu could hold valuable information on the origins of life.

Listen now as Mission Co-investigator and SwRI Space Scientist Dr. Vicky Hamilton discusses the discoveries of the OSIRIS-REx mission and the upcoming sample collection.