16-sec-action, 334 mn km away: Osiris to grab 1st asteroid sample on Oct 20

A well-preserved time capsule from the early solar system, asteroid Bennu could hold answers to the origin of our sun, its planets, and ultimately life as we know it

It was in 1957 when a small Soviet spacecraft reached the escape velocity to leave the planet and enter the Earth's orbit. Six decades since the Sputnik-I's path-breaking achievement, OSIRIS-REx is set to sneak in and return samples from an asteroid — 334 million km away from the Earth.

The spacecraft will make its first attempt to collect the dust, mineral sample on October 20.

Nasa's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will perform the historic event as the robotic spacecraft descends to asteroid Bennu’s boulder-strewn surface, touch down for a few seconds and collect a sample of the