LPL Spotlight Stories

OSIRIS-REx's Successful Sample Delivery Marks the Start of Extended OSIRIS-APEX Mission

After dropping off its historic sample from asteroid Bennu, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is headed to its next target: another potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid, called Apophis.

Take a Stroll Through the Solar System – on the UArizona Campus

Designed objects true to scale, 11 plaques have been installed across campus as part of of an outreach project to make space science accessible to people of all ages.

Preparing to Welcome an Asteroid Sample

On the morning of Aug. 29, outside a hangar on the U.S. Army's Dugway Proving Ground in the high mountain desert of central Utah, members of NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample recovery team began a two-day "dress rehearsal" – their last opportunity to perfect procedures before the first extraterrestrial samples collected beyond the orbit of the moon are expected to land on Earth on Sept. 24.

OSIRIS-REx Team Completes Final Test Before Asteroid Sample Delivery

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will deliver a sample from asteroid Bennu to scientists waiting in the Utah desert on Sept. 24.

Asteroid Sample Delivery to Launch Decades of Science

A University of Arizona-led NASA mission nearly 20 years in the making is finally reaching its end, but the scientific investigation is only beginning.

This Is How the First-Ever U.S. Asteroid Sample Return Will Unfold

Scientists are gearing up for a high-stakes finale to OSIRIS-REx, the first U.S. mission to snare a sample from an asteroid

OSIRIS-REx Team Members Practice Recovering Asteroid Sample Capsule Bound for Earth

Everything must go smoothly when the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft releases its capsule with pristine asteroid material to land in the Utah desert in September.

Hamilton, Ranjan, Robinson Named 2023 Scialog Fellows

Scialog is short for “science + dialog.” Created in 2010 by RCSA, the Scialog format supports research by stimulating intensive interdisciplinary conversation and community building around a globally important scientific theme. Teams of two or three Fellows who have not previously collaborated compete for seed funding for novel research projects based on the ideas that emerge at the conference.

Pass the Salt: This Space Rock Holds Clues as to How Earth Got Its Water

The discovery of tiny salt grains in an asteroid sample brought to Earth by the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft provides strong evidence that liquid water may be more common in the solar system's largest asteroid population than previously thought.

Catalina Sky Survey Wants Your Help Hunting for Asteroids

Anyone with an internet connection can now join University of Arizona researchers as they work to discover asteroids hurtling through our solar system.