At the same time, Bennu was also flinging marble-size bits of rock away from its surface. Those crumbs entered orbit around the asteroid, and then some of them fell back to its surface.

NASA launched a spacecraft into space and hit the asteroid, shortening its orbit by 32 minutes. NASA also sent the OSIRIS-REx ...

As the water evaporated, brines similar to Earth’s salt flats remained. Bennu’s near-Earth orbit and carbon-rich makeup have ...

Missions that return asteroid samples bring home more than just very expensive dust. These samples can provide valuable ...

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft had a mission in 2020: fly to Bennu, an asteroid about 200 million miles from earth, land briefly, collect a small sample, and return home. But its mission was ...

A new study suggests Bennu may have formed beyond Saturn’s orbit, carrying materials from the coldest regions of the solar system. Berkeley Lab plans further infrared and X-ray analysis of Bennu ...

Recent papers published in Nature and Nature Astronomy found life’s building blocks on a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu.

That orbit will allow OSIRIS-REx to meet up with Bennu and then come home after collecting its sample, according to Christina Richey, a scientist working with the mission. Bennu is also a ...

The rocky object called Bennu is classified as a near-Earth asteroid, currently making its closest approach to Earth every six years at about 186,000 miles (299,000 km) away. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx ...

If Bennu were to collide with the planet ... This asteroid hasn’t been seen since 2007, making its exact orbit unclear. There is a very low probability (1 in 10 million) that 2007 FT3 could ...