Uploaded March 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is orbiting the small (1 km wide) near-Earth asteroid Bennu, mapping the surface and investigating the minerals there. Over time it took this series of images which shows the entire surface. Look how rugged it is! It's far rougher than expected, and in fact very few smooth spots exist on it. That's a problem, since one big goal of the spacecraft is to land on the surface, collect a sample, and return it to Earth. Scientists have found one potential landing spot, but it'll be a tight fit. Hopefully they'll have that straightened out soon.
My blog post: syfy.com/syfywire/holy-spitting-space-rocks-asteroid-bennu-is-active
Original video: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13154
Credit: Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is orbiting the small (1 km wide) near-Earth asteroid Bennu, mapping the surface and investigating the minerals there. Over time it took this series of images which shows the entire surface. Look how rugged it is! It's far rougher than expected, and in fact very few smooth spots exist on it. That's a problem, since one big goal of the spacecraft is to land on the surface, collect a sample, and return it to Earth. Scientists have found one potential landing spot, but it'll be a tight fit. Hopefully they'll have that straightened out soon.
My blog post: syfy.com/syfywire/holy-spitting-space-rocks-asteroid-bennu-is-active
Original video: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13154
Credit: Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
