LPL Spotlight Stories
![Captured by the spacecraft's SamCam camera on Oct. 22, 2020, this image shows that the sampler head on NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is full of rocks and dust collected from the surface of the asteroid Bennu. They show also that some of these particles are slowly escaping the sampler head through small gaps where the head's mylar flap is wedged open. NASA](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/spotlight/story/TAGSAM_full.jpg?itok=eU_KhY8f)
OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Collects Significant Amount of Asteroid
The spacecraft seems to have bit off more than it can chew, so the mission team will expedite stowing the sample for the return trip home.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/spotlight/story/d_tag-2-frames.jpg?itok=OL6ZaMp7)
Watch: OSIRIS-REx Touchdown Causes a Stir on Asteroid Bennu
The sampling arm of NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made contact with asteroid Bennu to stir up surface material and capture some of it for return to Earth in 2023.
![The University of Arizona's Anjani Polit (right), OSIRIS-REx Science Planning Team senior systems engineer, watches NASA's broadcast of the mission's Touch-and-Go event with anticipation. UArizona mission team members and members of university leadership, including President Robert C. Robbins (left) watched the broadcast from the university's Michael J. Drake Building. Chris Richards/University of Arizona](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/spotlight/story/TAG_Day_Team.jpg?itok=K_QVTzvx)
UArizona Mission Members Celebrate OSIRIS-REx Success
Members of the LPL-led OSIRIS-REx mission, along with UArizona leadership, gathered to watch NASA's live broadcast of the mission's much-anticipated Touch-and-Go, or TAG, sampling event.
![Artist's impression showing the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending onto Bennu's surface to collect a sample on Oct. 20. NASA/Goddard/CI Lab](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/spotlight/story/Osiris_REx_Header.jpg?itok=pLIn7Gh-)
OSIRIS-REx Successfully Touches Asteroid Bennu in Sample Grab
Ten years after NASA selected LPL to lead the OSIRIS-REx mission, the spacecraft successfully completed its most treacherous and rewarding task: sample collection.
![NASA's UArizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission is the agency's first attempt to bring back a sample from an asteroid.NASA](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/spotlight/story/OREx_touchdown_bennu.png?itok=kO1R9XsD)
What Touching an Asteroid Can Teach Us
NASA will make history on Oct. 20 by attempting its first-ever sample collection maneuver at an asteroid. LPL professor Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission, discusses the significance of the mission for science and society.
![The sampler head of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft works not unlike a reverse vacuum cleaner, designed to collect loose material from the surface of asteroid Bennu on Oct. 20. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/spotlight/story/TAGSAM_Head.jpg?itok=6igO96Vx)
Why Scooping a Sample from an Asteroid is Harder than it Looks
Here's what will happen on Oct. 20, when NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will descend to asteroid Bennu and pick up a sample of pristine material left over from the formation of our solar system.
![NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission created these images using false-color Red-Green-Blue composites of asteroid Bennu. A 2D map and spacecraft imagery were overlaid on a shape model of the asteroid to create these false-color composites. In these composites, spectrally average and bluer-than-average terrain looks blue, and surfaces that are redder than average appear red. Bright green areas correspond to the instances of a mineral pyroxene, which likely came from a different asteroid, Vesta.](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/spotlight/story/blue_bennu.png?itok=XsUZ8v6M)
An Asteroid of a Different Color … and Other Secrets of Bennu Unlocked
The LPL-led OSIRIS-REx mission is gearing up for its first attempt to collect a sample from asteroid Bennu this month. But before even touching the surface, scientists are learning more than ever about the material that makes up the asteroid.
![Captured on August 11, 2020 during the second rehearsal of the OSIRIS-REx mission’s sample collection event, this image shows the SamCam imager's field of view as the NASA spacecraft approaches asteroid Bennu's surface.NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/spotlight/story/orex_facts.jpg?itok=TKW3rCFF)
25 Days of 'O-REx'
There are T minus 25 days until the LPL-led NASA OSIRIS-REx mission attempts to collect its first-ever asteroid sample. Here are facts for each day of the countdown.
![On Oct. 20, the University of Arizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission will make its first sample collection attempt.](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/spotlight/story/TAG_still.jpg?itok=91pPqi4-)
OSIRIS-REx Begins its Countdown to TAG
On Oct. 20, the LPL-led OSIRIS-REx mission will make its first sample collection attempt. Because of the communication delay, the spacecraft must pilot itself to the surface while avoiding hazardous boulders before backing away safely with the sample.
![During spring 2019, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured these images, which show fragments of asteroid Vesta present on asteroid Bennu’s surface. The bright boulders (circled in the images) are pyroxene-rich material from Vesta. Some bright material appear to be individual rocks (left) while others appear to be clasts within larger boulders (right).NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona](/sites/default/files/styles/az_card_image/public/spotlight/story/bennu_vesta_09212020.png?itok=88lMCgsZ)
NASA's OSIRIS-REx to Asteroid Bennu: 'You've Got a Little Vesta on You...'
Bits of the asteroid Vesta found on Bennu highlight the variety of asteroids in the solar system.
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