ScienceSpaceNASA closes the book on epic OSIRIS-REx asteroid-sampling mission: 'I am immensely proud of what we did'
NASA has officially closed its OSIRIS-REx mission after the spacecraft returned the largest asteroid sample ever collected, full of ancient organic material.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid-sampling mission formally ended on Sept. 30, 2026, though scientists will continue to study the pieces of space rock it returned for decades.
NASA formally ended its OSIRIS-REx mission on 30 September 2026, a decade after it launched to collect and return a sample from asteroid Bennu.
The mission delivered the largest asteroid sample ever brought to Earth, containing organic building blocks from more than 4.5 billion years ago, at a total cost of around one billion dollars.
Scientists will continue studying the Bennu sample for decades, hoping it holds clues about how life on Earth began.
Scientists say the sample from asteroid Bennu contains raw organic building blocks that may have helped seed life on Earth, and will be studied for decades to come.
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