Video: Inside NASA's Mission to Neighboring Asteroid
An artist's depiction of the OSIRIS-REx craft. NASA
Scientists hope to see organic materials on the surface.
Juno isn't the only NASA mission gathering information in our solar system. NASA is sending a spacecraft, the OSIRIS-REx, to near-Earth asteroid Bennu, which scientists believe may contain chemical clues to the origins of life.
After a 2-year journey, remote-sensing instruments on board the craft will map the asteroid in detail. The spacecraft will also bring a souvenir back to Earth in 2023.
"OSIRIS-REx is a mission to bring a sample back from an asteroid," said Dennis Reuter, an instrument scientist on the mission. "That's not something we've done before, and that's very exciting."
To learn more about the mission, check out the video below from NASA: