Bennu
The asteroid we touched
A carbon-rich near-Earth asteroid sampled by NASA's OSIRIS-REx in 2020. Its returned samples — delivered to Earth in 2023 — preserve organic molecules from the dawn of the solar system.
Image: NASA / OSIRIS-REx
Vital statistics
Type
B-type Carbonaceous Asteroid
Diameter
~492 m
Discovered
Sep 11, 1999
Sample mass
~121.6 g returned
Impact risk
1-in-1,750 by 2300
Did you know
Sample contains water and carbon — building blocks of life.
Fact 01
Surface is a rubble pile of loose boulders.
Fact 02
Has a tiny chance of impacting Earth in 2182.
Fact 03
Deep dive
Notable missions
- • OSIRIS-REx (2018–2023)
- • OSIRIS-APEX (continuing mission)
Research & publications
Jump straight into peer-reviewed papers, preprints and authoritative references for Bennu.
arXiv (preprints)
Open-access preprints in physics & astrophysics.
NASA ADS
The definitive bibliographic database for astronomy.
Google Scholar
Cross-publisher academic search.
Nature
Peer-reviewed articles in Nature & sister journals.
Wikipedia
Encyclopedic overview & onward references.
Tip: ask the Research AI for a curated reading list → /research
