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After dropping off its historic sample from asteroid Bennu, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is headed to its next target: another potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid, called Apophis.
The delivery from the asteroid Bennu, seven years after the spacecraft launched, marks the end of the space-voyaging phase of the mission. Scientists will now study the rocks and dust to better understand the origins of life on Earth.
Ahead of Sunday's sample delivery, learn about the asteroid, the spacecraft and the people starring in the historic OSIRIS-REx mission, which will launch decades of scientific research and could help explain the origins of the solar system and life itself.
Eleven plaques have been installed across campus to show the relative sizes and distances of solar system objects. Zarah Brown, a doctoral student at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, led the project to make space science accessible to people of all ages.
Members of NASA's UArizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission completed one last dress rehersal before the spacecraft delivers a sample from asteroid Bennu to the Utah desert on Sept. 24.
When the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivers a sample from asteroid Bennu to Earth on Sept. 24, it will launch decades of scientific investigation. Mission principal investigator Dante Lauretta is most excited to shed light on the origins of life on Earth.
