NASA’s asteroid sampling spacecraft OSIRIS-REx has captured 1st images of its target asteroid Bennu and began its final approach towards it after the almost 2-year journey.
OSIRIS-Rex stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer.
The first glimpses of the targeted asteroid were captured by Poly Cam camera OCAMS on board of OSIRIS-Rex from a distance of 2.1 million kilometres.
OSIRIS-Rex mission was launched in September 2016 for studying 101955 Bennu, a carbonaceous asteroid.
It is NASA’s first asteroid sampling mission i.e. it will survey surface, collect a sample and deliver it safely back to Earth.
Bennu is a near-Earth carbonaceous asteroid about the size of a small mountain in the Apollo group. It was discovered in September 1999 by the LINEAR Project.