OSIRIS-REx

OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) was a NASA asteroid-study and sample-return mission.^[10]

OSIRIS-REx

Artist's rendering of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft
Names	Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer; New Frontiers 3
Mission type	Asteroid sample return[1]
Operator	NASA / Lockheed Martin
COSPAR ID	2016-055A
SATCAT no.	41757
Website	asteroidmission.org
Mission duration	7 years (planned) 889 days at asteroid (actual) 7 years, 7 months, 16 days (elapsed)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin
Launch mass	2,110 kg (4,650 lb)[2]
Dry mass	880 kg (1,940 lb)[2]
Dimensions	2.44 × 2.44 × 3.15 m (8 ft 0 in × 8 ft 0 in × 10 ft 4 in)[2]
Power	1226 to 3000 W[2]
Start of mission
Launch date	8 September 2016, 23:05 UTC[3]
Rocket	Atlas V 411, AV-067[3]
Launch site	Cape Canaveral, SLC-41
Contractor	United Launch Alliance
End of mission
Landing date	24 September 2023, 14:52 (2023-09-24UTC14:53) UTC[4]
Landing site	Utah Test and Training Range[4]
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Bennu-centric
Altitude	0.68–2.1 km (0.42–1.30 mi)[5][6]
Period	22–62 hours[7][6]
Flyby of Earth
Closest approach	22 September 2017[2][8]
Distance	17,237 km (10,711 mi)[8]
Bennu orbiter
Orbital insertion	31 December 2018[9] (Rendezvous: 3 December 2018)
Orbital departure	3 March 2021 (planned)[2]
Sample mass	60 g (2.1 oz) (planned)[4]
Instruments OCAMS OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite OLA OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter OTES OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer OVIRS OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer REXIS Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer TAGSAM Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism
OSIRIS-REx mission logo New Frontiers program ← Juno Dragonfly →

The mission collected samples from 101955 Bennu, a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid, and returned the samples to earth in September 2023.^[11]

The material returned is expected to enable scientists to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System, its initial stages of planet formation, and the source of organic compounds that led to the formation of life on Earth.^[12]

OSIRIS-REx is the first United States spacecraft to return samples from an asteroid.