Scientists plan to methodically examine samples from NASA's first asteroid mission, OSIRIS-REx, to figure out how our solar system formed.

A closeup of Bennu, showing the asteroid’s rough surface with many boulders. Credit: Nasa/Goddard/University of Arizona On Thursday, Dec. 12, NASA announced that ...

NASA’s first asteroid sampling mission launched into space at 7:05 p.m. EDT Thursday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, beginning a journey that could revolutionize our understanding of ...

When NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft touched down on the asteroid Bennu, scientists expected a gentle landing. Instead, the probe sank deep into the surface — as if the ground had turned to liquid. For a ...

A startling discovery has reignited one of science’s oldest questions: where did life truly begin? Researchers analyzing a ...

A pristine asteroid sample that could serve as a time capsule from the early days of our solar system has finally been revealed. The rocks and dust contain water and a large amount of carbon, said ...

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx completed its last flyover of Bennu around 6 a.m. EDT (4 a.m. MDT) April 7 and is now slowly drifting away from the asteroid; however, the mission team will have to wait a few more ...

Modern astronomy is giving us unprecedented views of the asteroids, comets, and other small bodies that litter our cosmic ...

When NASA’s only major concerns for the OSIRIS-REx launch on Thursday are some fluffy white clouds, you know the mission is in good shape. The mission, led by the University of Arizona’s Lunar and ...

Magnesium-sodium phosphate found in NASA's OSIRIS-Rex asteroid sample suggests Bennu, seen above, could have originated from an ancient, primitive ocean world. Credit: NASA What the team found was ...

Amidst the bustling of classes changing, the UA mall hosted pre-launch festivities in order to celebrate the launch of OSIRIS-REx. Students, faculty and members of the community were able to join the ...

The UA’s OSIRIS-REx space mission will put a robotic lab in orbit around a near-earth asteroid in 2019. That’s a long ways off, but now is the last chance to get a good look at the asteroid before ...