OSIRIS-REx: Sample Return from Asteroid (101955) Bennu
D.S. Lauretta, S.S. Balram-Knutson, E. Beshore, W.V. Boynton, C., Drouet dAubigny, D.N. DellaGiustina, H.L. Enos, D.R. Gholish, C.W., Hergenrother, E.S. Howell, C.A. Johnson, E.T. Morton, M.C. Nolan, B. Rizk,, H.L. Roper, A.E. Bartels, B.J. Bos, J.P. Dworkin, D.E. Highsmith

TL;DR
The OSIRIS-REx mission aims to collect and return a sample from asteroid Bennu to study its composition, structure, and potential resource value, enhancing our understanding of asteroids and planetary defense.
Contribution
This paper details the planning, execution, and expected scientific outcomes of NASA's first asteroid sample return mission, including mission design and scientific objectives.
Findings
Sample collection from Bennu scheduled for 2020s
Expected return of asteroid samples in 2023
Enhanced understanding of asteroid composition and resources
Abstract
In May of 2011, NASA selected the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) asteroid sample return mission as the third mission in the New Frontiers program. The other two New Frontiers missions are New Horizons, which explored Pluto during a flyby in July 2015 and is on its way for a flyby of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 on Jan. 1, 2019, and Juno, an orbiting mission that is studying the origin, evolution, and internal structure of Jupiter. The spacecraft departed for near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu aboard an United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 evolved expendable launch vehicle at 7:05 p.m. EDT on September 8, 2016, on a seven-year journey to return samples from Bennu. The spacecraft is on an outbound-cruise trajectory that will result in a rendezvous with Bennu in August 2018. The science instruments on the spacecraft will…
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