LPL Spotlight Stories

Life on Ancient Earth and Alien Planets: UArizona to Lead NASA Astrobiology Projects

Two of the eight interdisciplinary research teams selected by the NASA Astrobiology Program to inaugurate its Interdisciplinary Consortia for Interdisciplinary Research program are located at the University of Arizona. Led by Betül Kaçar and Dániel Apai, the teams were selected from a pool of more than 40 proposals.

 This image shows four views of asteroid Bennu along with a corresponding global mosaic. The images were taken on Dec. 2, 2018, by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft’s PolyCam camera, which is part of the OCAMS instrument suite designed by UArizona scientists and engineers. NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

Asteroid's Scars Tell Stories of its Past

Impact craters left by space debris in the boulders on asteroid Bennu's rugged surface allowed researchers to reconstruct the history of the near-Earth object in unprecedented detail.
Taken on Oct. 28 by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, this image shows the collector head after it was separated from the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism arm. The collector head is secured onto the capture ring in the Sample Return Capsule. NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

OSIRIS-REx Successfully Stows Sample of Asteroid Bennu

The mission team spent two days working around the clock to carry out the stowage procedure.

 Captured by the spacecraft's SamCam camera on Oct. 22, 2020, this image shows that the sampler head on NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is full of rocks and dust collected from the surface of the asteroid Bennu. They show also that some of these particles are slowly escaping the sampler head through small gaps where the head's mylar flap is wedged open. NASA

OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Collects Significant Amount of Asteroid

The spacecraft seems to have bit off more than it can chew, so the mission team will expedite stowing the sample for the return trip home.

Watch: OSIRIS-REx Touchdown Causes a Stir on Asteroid Bennu

The sampling arm of NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made contact with asteroid Bennu to stir up surface material and capture some of it for return to Earth in 2023.

 The University of Arizona's Anjani Polit (right), OSIRIS-REx Science Planning Team senior systems engineer, watches NASA's broadcast of the mission's Touch-and-Go event with anticipation. UArizona mission team members and members of university leadership, including President Robert C. Robbins (left) watched the broadcast from the university's Michael J. Drake Building. Chris Richards/University of Arizona

UArizona Mission Members Celebrate OSIRIS-REx Success

Members of the LPL-led OSIRIS-REx mission, along with UArizona leadership, gathered to watch NASA's live broadcast of the mission's much-anticipated Touch-and-Go, or TAG, sampling event.
Artist's impression showing the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending onto Bennu's surface to collect a sample on Oct. 20. NASA/Goddard/CI Lab

OSIRIS-REx Successfully Touches Asteroid Bennu in Sample Grab

Ten years after NASA selected LPL to lead the OSIRIS-REx mission, the spacecraft successfully completed its most treacherous and rewarding task: sample collection.

 NASA's UArizona-led OSIRIS-REx mission is the agency's first attempt to bring back a sample from an asteroid.NASA

What Touching an Asteroid Can Teach Us

NASA will make history on Oct. 20 by attempting its first-ever sample collection maneuver at an asteroid. LPL professor Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission, discusses the significance of the mission for science and society.
The sampler head of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft works not unlike a reverse vacuum cleaner, designed to collect loose material from the surface of asteroid Bennu on Oct. 20. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)

Why Scooping a Sample from an Asteroid is Harder than it Looks

Here's what will happen on Oct. 20, when NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will descend to asteroid Bennu and pick up a sample of pristine material left over from the formation of our solar system.

 NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission created these images using false-color Red-Green-Blue composites of asteroid Bennu. A 2D map and spacecraft imagery were overlaid on a shape model of the asteroid to create these false-color composites. In these composites, spectrally average and bluer-than-average terrain looks blue, and surfaces that are redder than average appear red. Bright green areas correspond to the instances of a mineral pyroxene, which likely came from a different asteroid, Vesta.

An Asteroid of a Different Color … and Other Secrets of Bennu Unlocked

The LPL-led OSIRIS-REx mission is gearing up for its first attempt to collect a sample from asteroid Bennu this month. But before even touching the surface, scientists are learning more than ever about the material that makes up the asteroid.