NASA’s robot just landed on Bennu after 2 years — but its mission has only just begun

Relief showed clearly on the faces of the team of NASA scientists and engineers as they were told: “Touchdown is complete”. Then applause a few seconds later for “back away burn complete”. The most hazardous part of the mission was over – and seemingly successful, although we will have to wait for a few more days to hear the scale of the success. OSIRIS-REx (for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer)) was launched in September 2016, arriving at its target asteroid 101955 Bennu in December 2018. The purpose of the mission was to characterize the asteroid, then bring…

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