OSIRIS-REx

OSIRIS-REx (Origins-spectral Interpretation-resource Identification-security-regolith Explorer, New Frontiers 3 or NF3) is a mission that carried samples of an asteroid back to Earth. The asteroid is 101955 Bennu, earlier known as 1999 RQ₃₆. The project was the third NASA New Frontiers mission, which was launched in September 2016, entered orbit around the asteroid in December 2018, observed it, collecting samples in October 2020, began its return trip in May 2021, reached Earth-vicinity in September 2023, sent the sample return capsule to Earth that parachuted in Utah, and the samples have since been under considerable study. As planned, after releasing the capsule, OSIRIS-REx began a new mission termed OSIRIS-APEX, to visit another asteroid, 99942 Apophis, in 2029.