News Planetary Science

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx nabbed over 120 grams of space rocks from asteroid Bennu

Mission member Harold Connolly shares how the team finally got the capsule open and what’s next

Pieces of the asteroid Bennu fill the sample container (shown) of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. In January, engineers finally removed two stuck screws to access the full sample.

NASA, Erika Blumenfeld and Joseph Aebersold

By Adam Mann

It’s official: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft snagged 121.6 grams of pristine space rocks when it bopped the asteroid Bennu four years ago, more than double the mission’s official science goal, the agency confirmed February 15.