Studying an Asteroid on Earth
Project Scientist Jason Dworkin discusses the OSIRIS-REx mission to explore asteroid Bennu and return a sample to Earth.
View transcript.
Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.
Astrobiologists like Jason Dworkin are keenly interested in the origins of life on Earth, but the evidence that they seek was erased long ago by Earth’s geology and chemistry. Fortunately, asteroids like Bennu preserve the solar system’s earliest ingredients - including the carbon-based building blocks of life - which can be retrieved and studied by scientists in a lab on Earth. That’s why NASA is sending a spacecraft called OSIRIS-REx to explore asteroid Bennu and bring back a sample. The material collected by OSIRIS-REx will provide a wealth of data for future generations of scientists, shedding light on one of the solar system's biggest mysteries.
Learn more about the OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu.
Learn more about the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory at NASA Goddard.
For More Information
See the following sources:
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
-
Animators
- Chris Meaney (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Michael Lentz (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Walt Feimer (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
-
Editor
- Dan Gallagher (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
-
Scientist
- Jason Dworkin (NASA/GSFC)
-
Interviewee
- Jason Dworkin (NASA/GSFC)
-
Producer
- Dan Gallagher (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
-
Videographers
- Chris Smith (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Rob Andreoli (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.)
-
Production assistant
- John Caldwell (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Tapes
This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:-
OSIRIS-REx Overview
(ID: 2015008)
Thursday, August 27, 2015 at 4:00AM
Produced by - Chad Kainz