An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A → spacecraft whose goal is to collect a sample from the asteroid → 101955 Bennu and bring it back to Earth. It was launched by → NASA on September 8, 2016. OSIRIS-REx will spend two years chasing Bennu down, finally rendezvousing with the → near-Earth asteroid in August 2018. The spacecraft will then study the → asteroid Bennu from orbit for another two years before grabbing at least 60 grams of surface material in July 2020. The sample should reach Earth in 2023. The analysis of the sample would allow to study the role that → B-type asteroids like Bennu, which are primitive and apparently carbon-rich, may have played in helping life appear on Earth.

The name is short for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer .