Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Early analysis of a sample collected from the asteroid Bennu suggests the space rock has an unexpectedly water-rich past and may even have broken up from an ancient ocean world. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission collected a… Read More »
On September 24, 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft dropped to Earth a capsule containing pure carbonaceous regolith collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. These samples were obtained after the probe made an impressive, seven-year round-trip journey across the solar system. Ever since these pieces of space rock arrived (about 120 grams of sample, to be exact),… Read More »
Scientists have determined that an asteroid the size of the Empire State Building in New York will pass by the Earth in 2182. Although experts do not think there is a possibility of contact with the planet, many scientists said it is important to study asteroids and other objects from space and be prepared for… Read More »
Scientists are currently examining bits and pieces fitted, packaged and labeled from asteroid Bennu, the cosmic mother lode delivered by NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer mission. This seven-year journey, known in astronomical parlance as OSIRIS-REx, brought the goods home via a sample return box that came to a complete… Read More »