To Bennu and Back

NASA’s latest New Frontiers mission, OSIRIS-REx, will venture to a near-Earth asteroid to discover clues about the unique resources asteroids hold, processes that affect asteroids’ orbital paths and their potential for impacting Earth, and the origins of life in the solar system. In addition, OSIRIS-REx will collect a sample from the surface of the asteroid and return it to Earth for generations of scientists to study and analyze, making this the first American asteroid sample return mission and the largest sample returned from an extraterrestrial body since Apollo. OSIRIS-REx’s launch window opens September 8, 2016. This is the journey #ToBennuAndBack. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Katrina Jackson Music credits: “Defenders of the Earth“ and “Finding Gaia“ by Daniel Jay Nielson [ASCAP]; Atmosphere Music Ltd PRS; Volta Music; Killer Tracks Production Music More information: This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: Or subscribe to NASA’s Goddard Shorts HD Podcast: Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Facebook: · Twitter · Flickr · Instagram · Google NASAGoddard/posts