Bennu, the Reluctant Host
By Bright Green• Published • Updated
For billions of years, asteroid Bennu drifted quietly through space, a carbon rich remnant of the early solar system. Then, in 2018, it had an unexpected visitor: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, built by Lockheed Martin and guided by scientists at the University of Arizona.
The spacecraft circled and mapped Bennu in exquisite detail before daring a single, brief touch. In 2020 it pressed its sampling arm to the surface, stirred up a cloud of ancient dust, and captured a fragment of cosmic history.
Three years later, the sample fell back to Earth in the Utah desert. Recovery teams from NASA, Lockheed Martin, and the United States Air Force secured the capsule for transport. Bennu’s long kept secrets include carbon, water, and the building blocks of life. The analysis has only just begun, and discoveries are expected to unfold for decades.
The mission cost about 1.16 billion dollars.