NASA Successfully Retrieves First Asteroid Samples, Safely Landing in Utah

NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft successfully released a capsule containing rocks and dust from asteroid Bennu, which landed near Salt Lake City, Utah. The sample, estimated to hold at least a cup of rubble, will be analyzed to better understand planet formation and potentially hazardous asteroids. The capsule will be transported to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for further examination and distribution to scientists worldwide. The mission marks the first American asteroid sample return in history and the end of a seven-year journey for the spacecraft. Bennu, about the size of the Empire State Building, is expected to come dangerously close to Earth in 2182.