Mission Timeline

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft launched on Sep. 8, 2016, completed an Earth Gravity Assist on Sep. 22, 2017, and arrived at asteroid Bennu on Dec. 3, 2018. After almost two years of studying the asteroid and performing rehearsals, the mission is scheduled to make its first sample collection attempt on Oct. 20, 2020. The spacecraft will leave Bennu in 2021 to return to Earth on Sep. 24, 2023, when it will jettison its sample return capsule to land in the Utah desert.

Credit: University of Arizona

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