The Mysteries At Asteroid Bennu

A spacecraft the size of a passenger van is orbiting an asteroid nearly 100 million miles away and will soon snag a sample of dirt from the surface and send it back to Earth.

OSIRIS-REx launched from Cape Canaveral three years ago. The mission is NASA’s first asteroid sample return. Scientists hope the ancient asteroid Bennu will hold signs of early life in the solar system — but since arriving, scientists are learning Bennu is full of surprises.

We welcome back the mission’s principal investigator Dante Lauretta to give us an update on the mission and the surprises uncovered at the asteroid Bennu.