Asteroid Bennu wasn’t what NASA expected. Instead of a smooth surface for sample collection, OSIRIS-REx encountered a chaotic, rocky terrain that made its mission incredibly difficult.

cold temperature and decreased precipitation at the surface." Senior author of the study Axel Timmermann said: "The likelihood that a Bennu-sized asteroid will strike Earth is quite small at 0.037 ...

A collision with a medium-size asteroid could create widespread “devastation” on Earth’s surface, according to ... One of them, Bennu, has a 1-in-2,700 chance of colliding with Earth in ...

Instead, it is loose collection of boulders ... transport Bennu from space to the surface of Earth, it would collapse into a giant heap. Thus, Bennu is often referred to as a 'rubble pile' asteroid.

Scientists from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission recently delivered remarkable findings about asteroid 101955 Bennu after the mission returned its samples to Earth in 2023.

Bennu’s rocks formed 4.5 billion years ago on a larger parent asteroid. That asteroid was wet and muddy. Under the surface, pockets of water perhaps only a few feet across were evaporating ...

NASA spacecraft touched down on the rugged surface of the Bennu asteroid on Tuesday, grabbing a sample of rocks dating back to the birth of our solar system to bring home. The minivan-sized OSIRIS ...