The work was shared across institutions. NASA Goddard managed the mission, systems engineering and safety assurance; the University of Arizona led the science team, observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin built the spacecraft and provided flight operations, while Goddard and KinetX navigated it. NASA’s Johnson Space Center handles sample processing and curation in Houston. [S1]
When the spacecraft reached Bennu in December 2018, the team found a boulder-strewn surface that required substantially better navigation than planned before launch for a safe sample collection. On October 20, 2020, OSIRIS-REx touched down within three feet of its target and collected the sample, which reached Earth on September 24, 2023. [S1]
NASA says the 4.29 ounces (121.6 grams) ultimately collected exceeded twice the mission’s mass requirement. The agency expects researchers worldwide to use the sample to investigate the early solar system, including planet formation and the origins of organic materials essential to life on Earth. [S1]
Source documents
- NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Earns Neil Armstrong Space Flight Achievement Awardhttps://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasas-osiris-rex-earns-neil-armstrong-space-flight-achievement-award/