On September 24, 2023, a 4.3-ounce Bennu sample—perfectly preserved within ... led by meteorite experts and cosmic mineralogists at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the ...

Smithsonian magazine ... and earlier this fall, that sample collection canister landed, via parachute, in Utah. Scientists will be studying those samples of Bennu for decades in the hope of ...

The asteroid Bennu is puzzling scientists, with samples from the space rock showing weirder properties than they expected. These include extremely high nitrogen levels and improbably magnetic ...

Bennu’s potential collision with Earth is a remote but unsettling possibility, according to a new study. Bennu is about 500 metres wide—taller than the Empire State Building and as wide as ...

Early analysis of the asteroid Bennu sample returned by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has unveiled surprising insights into the early solar system and the potential origins of life on Earth.

The asteroid Bennu has been at the centre of scientific discussions recently, especially after researchers analysed surface samples collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. While much of the ...

In January 2025, scientists announced the discovery of organic molecules— the building blocks of life— in samples retrieved from a distant asteroid named Bennu. What can this discovery reveal ...

Samples were collected before an easy escape from Bennu’s frankly pathetic excuse for a gravitational field. OSIRIS-REx rejoined Earth’s solar orbit and dropped its sample capsule into ...

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NASA’s two-for-one launch of its newest space telescope, SPHEREx — designed to seek out the key ingredients for life in the Milky Way — alongside a sun-focused mission called PUNCH is facing ...