NASA researchers have said that asteroid Bennu, which is&nbsp;classified as a potentially hazardous object, has a chance of hitting the Earth.

Asteroids are among the leftover debris from the solar system's formation some 4.5 billion years ago.

Bennu, located over 100 million miles from Earth and whose acorn-shaped body formed in the early days of our solar system, could hold clues to the origins of life on Earth, scientists say.

OSIRIS-REx, a NASA spacecraft, spent two years near Bennu, an asteroid that is about 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide, observing its size, shape, mass and composition and monitoring its orbital trajectory around the sun.

Using its robotic arm, the spacecraft also collected a sample from the surface of the asteroid that will help researchers determine the future trajectory of Bennu.

The rocks and dust collected by OSIRIS-REx are scheduled to return to Earth on September 24, 2023.

Bennu was discovered in 1999 and is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid. It will make a close approach with Earth in September 2135. However, the chance of an impact is only&nbsp;1-in-2,700.

Scientists want to figure out how Earth's gravity and a phenomenon known as the Yarkovsky effect will affect its future trajectory and the potential for an impact on a subsequent orbit.

"The OSIRIS-REx data give us so much more precise information, we can test the limits of our models and calculate the future trajectory of Bennu to a very high degree of certainty through 2135," said Davide Farnocchia, a scientist with the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

"We've never modeled an asteroid's trajectory to this precision before," said Farnocchia, lead author of a study published in the journal Icarus.

"The impact probability overall is very small," he stressed. "We shouldn't be worried about it too much."

Farnocchia said the risk from Bennu "is smaller than from the undiscovered population of objects of similar size."

Although the chances of it hitting Earth are very low, Bennu remains one of the two most hazardous known asteroids in our solar system, along with another asteroid called 1950 DA.

Researchers determined Bennu's total impact probability between now and the year 2300 at about one in 1,750, or 0.057 percent.

"We are still looking for what we don't know out there, the objects that haven't been found yet," said Lindley Johnson of NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office.

Johnson said researchers were studying ways to redirect the orbit of an asteroid should it ever become necessary to do so.

He said an asteroid impacting Earth would cause a crater about 10 to 20 times the size of the object and spawn an area of devastation about 100 times the size of the crater. &nbsp;

But, Johnson added, "We really don't think we need to do anything about Bennu."

Scientists believe asteroids and comets crashing into early Earth may have delivered organic compounds and water that seeded the planet for life.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

NASA researchers have said that asteroid Bennu, which is classified as a potentially hazardous object, has a chance of hitting the Earth. Asteroids are among the leftover debris from the solar system's formation some 4.

NASA researchers have said that asteroid Bennu, which is classified as a potentially hazardous object, has a chance of hitting the Earth. Asteroids are among the leftover debris from the solar system's formation some 4.5 billion years ago. Bennu, located over 100 million miles from Earth and whose acorn-shaped body formed in the early days of our solar system, could hold clues to the origins of life on Earth, scientists say. OSIRIS-REx, a NASA spacecraft, spent two years near Bennu, an asteroid that is about 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide, observing its size, shape, mass and composition and monitoring its orbital trajectory around the sun. Using its robotic arm, the spacecraft also collected a sample from the surface of the asteroid that will help researchers determine the future trajectory of Bennu. The rocks and dust collected by OSIRIS-REx are scheduled to return to Earth on September 24, 2023. Bennu was discovered in 1999 and is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid. It will make a close approach with Earth in September 2135. However, the chance of an impact is only 1-in-2,700. Scientists want to figure out how Earth's gravity and a phenomenon known as the Yarkovsky effect will affect its future trajectory and the potential for an impact on a subsequent orbit. "The OSIRIS-REx data give us so much more precise information, we can test the limits of our models and calculate the future trajectory of Bennu to a very high degree of certainty through 2135," said Davide Farnocchia, a scientist with the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. "We've never modeled an asteroid's trajectory to this precision before," said Farnocchia, lead author of a study published in the journal Icarus. "The impact probability overall is very small," he stressed. "We shouldn't be worried about it too much." Farnocchia said the risk from Bennu "is smaller than from the undiscovered population of objects of similar size." Although the chances of it hitting Earth are very low, Bennu remains one of the two most hazardous known asteroids in our solar system, along with another asteroid called 1950 DA. Researchers determined Bennu's total impact probability between now and the year 2300 at about one in 1,750, or 0.057 percent. "We are still looking for what we don't know out there, the objects that haven't been found yet," said Lindley Johnson of NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office. Johnson said researchers were studying ways to redirect the orbit of an asteroid should it ever become necessary to do so. He said an asteroid impacting Earth would cause a crater about 10 to 20 times the size of the object and spawn an area of devastation about 100 times the size of the crater. But, Johnson added, "We really don't think we need to do anything about Bennu." Scientists believe asteroids and comets crashing into early Earth may have delivered organic compounds and water that seeded the planet for life. (With inputs from agencies)

NASA says asteroid Bennu classified as 'potentially hazardous' can hit Earth

Osiris-Rex spacecraft of&nbsp;the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to begin on Tuesday a delicate operation&nbsp;to stow its samples collected from asteroid Bennu.

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One week ahead of schedule &amp; exceeding all expectations, our <a href="https://twitter.com/OSIRISREx?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OSIRISREx</a> spacecraft is ready to stow its samples collected from asteroid Bennu! 
 
Read more about the latest mission developments <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ToBennuAndBack?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ToBennuAndBack</a>: <a href="https://t.co/GFjKADhuaT">https://t.co/GFjKADhuaT</a> <a href="https://t.co/ciTXUD73Kj">pic.twitter.com/ciTXUD73Kj</a>
— NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1320836379383877632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The probe is on a mission to collect fragments that scientists hope will help unravel the origins of our solar system, but that hit a snag after it picked up too big of a sample.

On October 22,&nbsp;the OSIRIS-REx mission team received images that showed the spacecraft’s collector head overflowing with material collected from Bennu’s surface, well over the two-ounce (60-gram) mission requirement, and that some of these particles appeared to be slowly escaping from the collection head, called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM).

A mylar flap on the TAGSAM allows the material to easily enter the collector's head and should seal shut once the particles pass through. However, larger rocks that didn’t fully pass through the flap into the TAGSAM appear to have wedged this flap open, allowing bits of the sample to leak out.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-collected-an-asteroid-sample-but-some-of-it-is-leaking-into-space-337667" hreflang="en">NASA collected an asteroid sample. But some of it is leaking into space</a>

Because the first sample collection event was so successful, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate has given the mission team the go-ahead to expedite sample stowage, originally scheduled for November&nbsp;2, in the spacecraft’s Sample Return Capsule (SRC) to minimize further sample loss.

"The abundance of material we collected from Bennu made it possible to expedite our decision to stow,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. “The team is now working around the clock to accelerate the stowage timeline so that we can protect as much of this material as possible for a return to Earth."

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Tomorrow, the OSIRIS-REx mission will begin the process to stow its abundant sample of asteroid Bennu. It’s a few days earlier than originally anticipated, but the team is working hard to make sure we get every bit of Bennu we possibly can. More details: <a href="https://t.co/b7Wnoz219q">https://t.co/b7Wnoz219q</a> <a href="https://t.co/PXIlkZhnzi">pic.twitter.com/PXIlkZhnzi</a>
— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) <a href="https://twitter.com/OSIRISREx/status/1320826816202825728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Fragments from the asteroid's surface area in a collector at the end of the probe's three-meter (10-foot) arm, slowly escaping into space because some rocks have prevented the compartment from closing completely.

That arm is what came into contact with Bennu for a few seconds last Tuesday in the culmination of a mission launched from Earth some four years ago.&nbsp;

The team will send the preliminary commands to the spacecraft to start the stow sequence and, once OSIRIS-REx completes each step in the sequence, the spacecraft sends telemetry and images back to the team on Earth and waits for the team’s confirmation to proceed with the next step.

Osiris-Rex is set to come home in September 2023, hopefully with the largest sample returned from space since the Apollo era.

The stowing operation will take several days, NASA said, because it requires the team's oversight and input unlike some of Osiris-Rex's other operations that run autonomously.

After each step in the process, the spacecraft will send information and images back to Earth so scientists can make sure everything is proceeding correctly.

The probe is so far away that it takes 18.5 minutes for its transmissions to reach Earth, and any signal from the control room requires the same amount of time to reach Osiris-Rex.

Osiris-Rex spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to begin on Tuesday a delicate operation to stow its samples collected from asteroid Bennu.

Osiris-Rex spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to begin on Tuesday a delicate operation to stow its samples collected from asteroid Bennu. One week ahead of schedule & exceeding all expectations, our @OSIRISREx spacecraft is ready to stow its samples collected from asteroid Bennu! Read more about the latest mission developments #ToBennuAndBack: https://t.co/GFjKADhuaT pic.twitter.com/ciTXUD73Kj — NASA (@NASA) October 26, 2020 × The probe is on a mission to collect fragments that scientists hope will help unravel the origins of our solar system, but that hit a snag after it picked up too big of a sample. On October 22, the OSIRIS-REx mission team received images that showed the spacecraft’s collector head overflowing with material collected from Bennu’s surface, well over the two-ounce (60-gram) mission requirement, and that some of these particles appeared to be slowly escaping from the collection head, called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM). A mylar flap on the TAGSAM allows the material to easily enter the collector's head and should seal shut once the particles pass through. However, larger rocks that didn’t fully pass through the flap into the TAGSAM appear to have wedged this flap open, allowing bits of the sample to leak out. Also read: NASA collected an asteroid sample. But some of it is leaking into space Because the first sample collection event was so successful, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate has given the mission team the go-ahead to expedite sample stowage, originally scheduled for November 2, in the spacecraft’s Sample Return Capsule (SRC) to minimize further sample loss. "The abundance of material we collected from Bennu made it possible to expedite our decision to stow,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. “The team is now working around the clock to accelerate the stowage timeline so that we can protect as much of this material as possible for a return to Earth." Tomorrow, the OSIRIS-REx mission will begin the process to stow its abundant sample of asteroid Bennu. It’s a few days earlier than originally anticipated, but the team is working hard to make sure we get every bit of Bennu we possibly can. More details: https://t.co/b7Wnoz219q pic.twitter.com/PXIlkZhnzi — NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) October 26, 2020 × Fragments from the asteroid's surface area in a collector at the end of the probe's three-meter (10-foot) arm, slowly escaping into space because some rocks have prevented the compartment from closing completely. That arm is what came into contact with Bennu for a few seconds last Tuesday in the culmination of a mission launched from Earth some four years ago. The team will send the preliminary commands to the spacecraft to start the stow sequence and, once OSIRIS-REx completes each step in the sequence, the spacecraft sends telemetry and images back to the team on Earth and waits for the team’s confirmation to proceed with the next step. Osiris-Rex is set to come home in September 2023, hopefully with the largest sample returned from space since the Apollo era. The stowing operation will take several days, NASA said, because it requires the team's oversight and input unlike some of Osiris-Rex's other operations that run autonomously. After each step in the process, the spacecraft will send information and images back to Earth so scientists can make sure everything is proceeding correctly. The probe is so far away that it takes 18.5 minutes for its transmissions to reach Earth, and any signal from the control room requires the same amount of time to reach Osiris-Rex.

NASA's Osiris-Rex ready to stow its samples collected from asteroid Bennu

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/nasa-spacecraft-makes-historic-flyby-of-ultima-thule-distant-world-ever-studied-187648">NASA</a>'s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft broke a record after successfully entering into orbit around the asteroid Bennu — the smallest cosmic object ever to be orbited by a spacecraft.

While many on Earth prepared to welcome the New Year, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, 110 million kilometres away, carried out a single, eight-second burn of its thrusters, NASA said in a statement.

The manoeuvre placed the spacecraft into orbit around the asteroid Bennu.

"The team continued our long string of successes by executing the orbit-insertion manoeuvre perfectly," said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona in the US.

"With the navigation campaign coming to an end, we are looking forward to the scientific mapping and sample site selection phase of the mission," said Lauretta.

"Entering orbit around Bennu is an amazing accomplishment that our team has been planning for years," he said.

Inching around the asteroid at a snail's pace, OSIRIS-REx's first orbit marks a leap for humankind. Never before has a spacecraft from Earth circled so close to such a small space object — one with barely enough gravity to keep a vehicle in a stable orbit.

"The gravity of Bennu is so small, forces like solar radiation and thermal pressure from Bennu's surface become much more relevant and can push the spacecraft around in its orbit much more than if it were orbiting around Earth or Mars, where gravity is by far the most dominant force," said Dan Wibben, OSIRIS-REx Maneuver and Trajectory Design Lead.

The spacecraft will circle Bennu about 1.75 kilometres from its centre, closer than any other spacecraft has come to its celestial object of study.&nbsp;

Previously the closest orbit of a planetary body was in May 2016, when the Rosetta spacecraft orbited about seven kilometres from the centre of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The comfortable distance is necessary to keep the spacecraft locked to Bennu, which has a gravity force only 5-millionths as strong as Earth's. The spacecraft is scheduled to orbit Bennu through mid-February at a leisurely 62 hours per orbit.

Now that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is closer to Bennu, physical details about the asteroid will leap into sharper focus, and the spacecraft's tour of this rubble pile of primordial debris will become increasingly detailed and focused.

"Our orbit design is highly dependent on Bennu's physical properties, such as its mass and gravity field, which we didn't know before we arrived," said OSIRIS-REx's flight dynamics system manager Mike Moreau, who is based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the US.

"Up until now, we had to account for a wide variety of possible scenarios in our computer simulations to make sure we could safely navigate the spacecraft so close to Bennu. As the team learned more about the asteroid, we incorporated new information to hone in on the final orbit design," he said.

The simulations have played a critical role. The OSIRIS-REx mission, after all, was designed based on complex computer programs that predicted the properties of Bennu and how the spacecraft's trajectory would behave.

This diligent preparation allowed the team to navigate the vehicle safely to Bennu in December and put some questions to rest and to fly over its poles and equator in a preliminary survey that led to some surprises.

The OSIRIS-REx team will resume science operations in late February. At that point, the spacecraft will perform a series of close flybys of Bennu for several months to take high-resolution images of every square inch of the asteroid to help select a sampling site.&nbsp;

During the summer of 2020, the spacecraft will briefly touch the surface of Bennu to retrieve a sample. The OSIRIS-REx mission is scheduled to deliver the sample to Earth in September 2023.

The spacecraft will circle the asteroid Bennu about 1.75 kilometres from its centre, closer than any other spacecraft has come to its celestial object of study.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft broke a record after successfully entering into orbit around the asteroid Bennu — the smallest cosmic object ever to be orbited by a spacecraft. While many on Earth prepared to welcome the New Year, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, 110 million kilometres away, carried out a single, eight-second burn of its thrusters, NASA said in a statement. The manoeuvre placed the spacecraft into orbit around the asteroid Bennu. "The team continued our long string of successes by executing the orbit-insertion manoeuvre perfectly," said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona in the US. "With the navigation campaign coming to an end, we are looking forward to the scientific mapping and sample site selection phase of the mission," said Lauretta. "Entering orbit around Bennu is an amazing accomplishment that our team has been planning for years," he said. Inching around the asteroid at a snail's pace, OSIRIS-REx's first orbit marks a leap for humankind. Never before has a spacecraft from Earth circled so close to such a small space object — one with barely enough gravity to keep a vehicle in a stable orbit. "The gravity of Bennu is so small, forces like solar radiation and thermal pressure from Bennu's surface become much more relevant and can push the spacecraft around in its orbit much more than if it were orbiting around Earth or Mars, where gravity is by far the most dominant force," said Dan Wibben, OSIRIS-REx Maneuver and Trajectory Design Lead. The spacecraft will circle Bennu about 1.75 kilometres from its centre, closer than any other spacecraft has come to its celestial object of study. Previously the closest orbit of a planetary body was in May 2016, when the Rosetta spacecraft orbited about seven kilometres from the centre of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The comfortable distance is necessary to keep the spacecraft locked to Bennu, which has a gravity force only 5-millionths as strong as Earth's. The spacecraft is scheduled to orbit Bennu through mid-February at a leisurely 62 hours per orbit. Now that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is closer to Bennu, physical details about the asteroid will leap into sharper focus, and the spacecraft's tour of this rubble pile of primordial debris will become increasingly detailed and focused. "Our orbit design is highly dependent on Bennu's physical properties, such as its mass and gravity field, which we didn't know before we arrived," said OSIRIS-REx's flight dynamics system manager Mike Moreau, who is based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the US. "Up until now, we had to account for a wide variety of possible scenarios in our computer simulations to make sure we could safely navigate the spacecraft so close to Bennu. As the team learned more about the asteroid, we incorporated new information to hone in on the final orbit design," he said. The simulations have played a critical role. The OSIRIS-REx mission, after all, was designed based on complex computer programs that predicted the properties of Bennu and how the spacecraft's trajectory would behave. This diligent preparation allowed the team to navigate the vehicle safely to Bennu in December and put some questions to rest and to fly over its poles and equator in a preliminary survey that led to some surprises. The OSIRIS-REx team will resume science operations in late February. At that point, the spacecraft will perform a series of close flybys of Bennu for several months to take high-resolution images of every square inch of the asteroid to help select a sampling site. During the summer of 2020, the spacecraft will briefly touch the surface of Bennu to retrieve a sample. The OSIRIS-REx mission is scheduled to deliver the sample to Earth in September 2023.

NASA spacecraft breaks record for smallest space object ever orbited

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/nasa-rocket-to-image-earths-leaky-atmosphere-180849">&nbsp;NASA'</a>s deep space explorer Osiris-Rex flew on Monday to within a dozen miles of its destination, a skyscraper-sized asteroid believed to hold organic compounds fundamental to life as well as the potential to collide with Earth in about 150 years.&nbsp;

Launched in September 2016, Osiris-Rex embarked on NASA's unprecedented seven-year mission to conduct a close-up survey of the asteroid Bennu, collect a sample from its surface and return that material to Earth for study.

Bennu, a rocky mass roughly a third of a mile wide and shaped like a giant acorn, orbits the sun at roughly the same distance as Earth and is thought to be rich in carbon-based organic molecules dating back to the earliest days of the solar system. Water, another vital component to the evolution of life, may also be trapped in the asteroid's minerals.

Scientists believe that asteroids and comets crashing into early Earth delivered organic compounds and water that seeded the planet for life, and atomic-level analysis of samples from Bennu could help prove that theory.

But there is another, more existential reason to study Bennu.

Scientists estimate there is a one-in-2,700 chance of the asteroid slamming catastrophically into Earth 166 years from now. That probability ranks Bennu No. 2 on NASA's catalog of 72 near-Earth objects potentially capable of hitting the planet.

Osiris-Rex will help scientists understand how heat radiated from the sun is gently steering Bennu on an increasingly menacing course through the solar system. That solar energy is believed to be nudging the asteroid ever closer toward Earth's path each time the asteroid makes its closest approach to our planet every six years.

"By the time we collect the sample in 2020 we will have a much better idea of the probability that Bennu would impact Earth in the next 150 years," mission spokeswoman Erin Morton said.

Scientists have estimated that in 2135 Bennu could pass closer to Earth than the moon, which orbits at a distance of about 250,000 miles, and possibly come closer still sometime between 2175 and 2195.

Osiris-Rex reached the "preliminary survey" phase of its mission on Monday, soaring to within 12 miles of the asteroid. The spacecraft will pass just 1.2 miles from Bennu in late December, where it will enter the object's gravitational pull.

From that stage, the spacecraft will begin gradually tightening its orbit around the asteroid, spiraling to within just 6 feet of its surface. Osiris-Rex will then extend its robot arm to snatch a sample of Bennu's terrain in a "touch-and-go" maneuver set for July 2020.

Osiris-Rex will later fly back to Earth, jettisoning a capsule bearing the asteroid specimen for a parachute descent in the Utah desert in September 2023.

NASA is developing a strategy for deflecting Bennu, or any other asteroid found to be on a collision course with Earth, by use of a special spacecraft to slam into the object hard enough to nudge it onto a safer path, said Lindley Johnson, a planetary defence officer with NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

"But this is all dependent on the outcome of a very close approach that Bennu has with Earth in September 2135," Johnson said. "We’ll just need to wait and see. Rather, our great-great-grandchildren will need to see."

NASA's deep space explorer Osiris-Rex flew on Monday to within a dozen miles of its destination, a skyscraper-sized asteroid believed to hold organic compounds fundamental to life as well as the potential to collide with Earth in about 150 years.

NASA's deep space explorer Osiris-Rex flew on Monday to within a dozen miles of its destination, a skyscraper-sized asteroid believed to hold organic compounds fundamental to life as well as the potential to collide with Earth in about 150 years. Launched in September 2016, Osiris-Rex embarked on NASA's unprecedented seven-year mission to conduct a close-up survey of the asteroid Bennu, collect a sample from its surface and return that material to Earth for study. Bennu, a rocky mass roughly a third of a mile wide and shaped like a giant acorn, orbits the sun at roughly the same distance as Earth and is thought to be rich in carbon-based organic molecules dating back to the earliest days of the solar system. Water, another vital component to the evolution of life, may also be trapped in the asteroid's minerals. Scientists believe that asteroids and comets crashing into early Earth delivered organic compounds and water that seeded the planet for life, and atomic-level analysis of samples from Bennu could help prove that theory. But there is another, more existential reason to study Bennu. Scientists estimate there is a one-in-2,700 chance of the asteroid slamming catastrophically into Earth 166 years from now. That probability ranks Bennu No. 2 on NASA's catalog of 72 near-Earth objects potentially capable of hitting the planet. Osiris-Rex will help scientists understand how heat radiated from the sun is gently steering Bennu on an increasingly menacing course through the solar system. That solar energy is believed to be nudging the asteroid ever closer toward Earth's path each time the asteroid makes its closest approach to our planet every six years. "By the time we collect the sample in 2020 we will have a much better idea of the probability that Bennu would impact Earth in the next 150 years," mission spokeswoman Erin Morton said. Scientists have estimated that in 2135 Bennu could pass closer to Earth than the moon, which orbits at a distance of about 250,000 miles, and possibly come closer still sometime between 2175 and 2195. Osiris-Rex reached the "preliminary survey" phase of its mission on Monday, soaring to within 12 miles of the asteroid. The spacecraft will pass just 1.2 miles from Bennu in late December, where it will enter the object's gravitational pull. From that stage, the spacecraft will begin gradually tightening its orbit around the asteroid, spiraling to within just 6 feet of its surface. Osiris-Rex will then extend its robot arm to snatch a sample of Bennu's terrain in a "touch-and-go" maneuver set for July 2020. Osiris-Rex will later fly back to Earth, jettisoning a capsule bearing the asteroid specimen for a parachute descent in the Utah desert in September 2023. NASA is developing a strategy for deflecting Bennu, or any other asteroid found to be on a collision course with Earth, by use of a special spacecraft to slam into the object hard enough to nudge it onto a safer path, said Lindley Johnson, a planetary defence officer with NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "But this is all dependent on the outcome of a very close approach that Bennu has with Earth in September 2135," Johnson said. "We’ll just need to wait and see. Rather, our great-great-grandchildren will need to see."

NASA deep space probe reaches asteroid deemed potential Earth threat

A first-of-its kind near-Earth asteroid mission launched by US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) lifted off today to collect carbon samples from an asteroid, a cosmic body that may have delivered life-giving materials to our planet billions of years.&nbsp; 
 
The unmanned spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, blasted off at 7:05 pm (23:05 GMT) atop an Atlas V rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The robot explorer has been built by Lockheed Martin to carry out the seven-year, $1 billion mission to and from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. 
 
Scientists hope the seven-year round mission will be able to clues about how life began.&nbsp;

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I&#39;m speeding toward my rendezvous with an <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/asteroid?src=hash">#asteroid</a>: <a href="https://t.co/jAiVKk0Fwf">https://t.co/jAiVKk0Fwf</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ToBennuAndBack?src=hash">#ToBennuAndBack</a> <a href="https://t.co/IIEkZdbcX3">pic.twitter.com/IIEkZdbcX3</a>
&mdash; OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) <a href="https://twitter.com/OSIRISREx/status/774068297264406528">September 9, 2016</a></blockquote>
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&quot;As the spacecraft soared high above the western tip of Australia, OSIRIS-REx has reached Earth-escape velocity of more than 22,000 miles (35,400 kilometers) per hour,&quot; NASA spokesman Mike Curie said an hour after takeoff, according to AFP.&nbsp; 
 
It is flying free on its way to a seven-year mission to rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu and return a sample to Earth. 
 
The 3,300-pound (1,500-kg) solar-powered probe separated from the rocket&#39;s upper stage an hour after blastoff, is soaring into space at a speed which is 28 times more than speed of the sound.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;For primitive, carbon-rich asteroids like Bennu, materials are preserved from over four and a half billion years ago,&quot; explained Christina Richey, OSIRIS-REx deputy program scientist at NASA. 
 
These &quot;may be the precursors to life in Earth or elsewhere in our solar system.&quot; 
 
OSIRIS-REx&#39;s main goal is to gather dirt and debris from the surface of the asteroid and return it to Earth by 2023 for further study. 
 
Learning more about the origins of life and the beginning of the solar system are key objectives for the SUV-sized OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer. 
 
The mission should also shed light on how to find precious resources such as water and metals in asteroids, a field that has generated increasing interest worldwide, AFP news agency said.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We are going to map this brand-new world that we have never seen before,&quot; Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator and professor at the University of Arizona, Tucson, has been quoted as saying by AFP.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
&quot;This represents the hopes and dreams, blood, sweat and tears of thousands of people who have worked on this mission.&quot; - <a href="https://twitter.com/DSLauretta">@DSLauretta</a>
&mdash; OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) <a href="https://twitter.com/OSIRISREx/status/774054881069969408">September 9, 2016</a></blockquote>
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(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Spacecraft OSIRIS-REx will collect pristine carbon samples from asteroid Bennu. The mission will help in learning about origins of life

A first-of-its kind near-Earth asteroid mission launched by US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) lifted off today to collect carbon samples from an asteroid, a cosmic body that may have delivered life-giving materials to our planet billions of years. The unmanned spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, blasted off at 7:05 pm (23:05 GMT) atop an Atlas V rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The robot explorer has been built by Lockheed Martin to carry out the seven-year, $1 billion mission to and from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. Scientists hope the seven-year round mission will be able to clues about how life began. I'm speeding toward my rendezvous with an #asteroid: https://t.co/jAiVKk0Fwf #ToBennuAndBack pic.twitter.com/IIEkZdbcX3 — OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) September 9, 2016 "As the spacecraft soared high above the western tip of Australia, OSIRIS-REx has reached Earth-escape velocity of more than 22,000 miles (35,400 kilometers) per hour," NASA spokesman Mike Curie said an hour after takeoff, according to AFP. It is flying free on its way to a seven-year mission to rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu and return a sample to Earth. The 3,300-pound (1,500-kg) solar-powered probe separated from the rocket's upper stage an hour after blastoff, is soaring into space at a speed which is 28 times more than speed of the sound. "For primitive, carbon-rich asteroids like Bennu, materials are preserved from over four and a half billion years ago," explained Christina Richey, OSIRIS-REx deputy program scientist at NASA. These "may be the precursors to life in Earth or elsewhere in our solar system." OSIRIS-REx's main goal is to gather dirt and debris from the surface of the asteroid and return it to Earth by 2023 for further study. Learning more about the origins of life and the beginning of the solar system are key objectives for the SUV-sized OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer. The mission should also shed light on how to find precious resources such as water and metals in asteroids, a field that has generated increasing interest worldwide, AFP news agency said. "We are going to map this brand-new world that we have never seen before," Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator and professor at the University of Arizona, Tucson, has been quoted as saying by AFP. "This represents the hopes and dreams, blood, sweat and tears of thousands of people who have worked on this mission." - @DSLauretta — OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) September 9, 2016 (WION with inputs from agencies)

NASA's first-of-its kind near-Earth asteroid mission lifts off