---
title: "NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has begun its 2-year journey back to Earth after collecting samples from which asteroid?"  
description: "NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has begun its 2-year journey back to Earth after collecting samples from which asteroid?"  
author: "Lily Chitlangiya"  
published: 2022-02-08  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/95628/nasa-s-osiris-rex-spacecraft-has-begun-its-2-year-journey-back-to-earth-after-collecting-samples-from-which-asteroid  
category: "current affair"  
tags: ["current affair", "nasa", "spacecraft"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has begun its 2-year journey back to Earth after collecting samples from which asteroid?

[NASA](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/84897/nasa-video-shows-a-giant-churning-tornado-on-the-sun-latest-view-2023)'s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has begun its 2-year [journey](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/84286/sundar-pichai-marvellous-journey-at-google) back to Earth after collecting [samples from which asteroid](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/35773/nasa-launched-the-osiris-rex-mission-to-collect-samples-from-which-asteroid)?

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## Answers

### Answer by Stuti Gupta

> **NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is aiming to finish a mission to explore the surface of Bennu, a skyscraper-sized asteroid around 320 million kilometers from Earth, gather samples, and return them to Earth.**

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**[Bennu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101955_Bennu)** is a **carbonaceous asteroid identified by the LINEAR Project** on September 11, 1999. It is a potentially dangerous object on the **Sentry Risk Table** with the largest average score on the **Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale.** It has a 1-in-1,800 probability of colliding with Earth between 2178 and 2290, with the greatest danger on September 24, 2182. It is called after the ancient **Egyptian legendary bird Bennu**, which is connected with the Sun, birth, and renewal. \
![NASA](https://answers.mindstick.com/questionanswer/c67a74d1-866b-465b-b5d5-2843473de3e3/images/2c326ab2-ac8e-4b7a-bd95-d77cba8d6455.jpeg)\
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The **OSIRIS-REx [mission](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/95626/the-doge-1-mission-to-the-moon-will-be-launched-by-which-company-in-2022)**, which is scheduled to return specimens to Earth in 2023 for additional research, was designed with Bennu in mind. After a two-year trip, the **OSIRIS-REx spacecraft landed at Bennu on December 3, 2018**. It circled the asteroid and meticulously scanned Bennu's surface in search of prospective sample collecting sites. The [**orbital**](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/39548/if-hydrogen-has-one-electron-then-what-is-the-need-of-electron-to-go-on-higher-orbitals) analysis enabled the estimate of Bennu's size and dispersion.


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Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/95628/nasa-s-osiris-rex-spacecraft-has-begun-its-2-year-journey-back-to-earth-after-collecting-samples-from-which-asteroid

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