Asteroid Bennu’s Surprising Surface Revealed by OSIRIS-REx

Released Thursday, July 7, 2022

ID: 14179

- Produced by:
- Dan Gallagher
- Visualizations by:
- Jonathan North
- and Kel Elkins
- Narration:
- Dan Gallagher
- Scientific consulting by:
- Dante Lauretta

When OSIRIS-REx touched down on asteroid Bennu, it encountered a surface of loose rocks and pebbles just barely held together by gravity.

Complete transcript available.

Universal Production Music: “Subsurface” by Ben Niblett and Jon Cotton

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

On October 20, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected a sample of near-Earth asteroid Bennu. This “TAG event” revealed surprising details about Bennu’s loosely-packed surface. The spacecraft’s arm sank almost half a meter into the asteroid, far deeper than expected, confirming that Bennu’s surface is incredibly weak. During the event, OSIRIS-REx collected a handful of material and kicked up roughly six tons of loose rock. It will return its sample of Bennu to Earth in September 2023.

Learn more about the surface properties of asteroid Bennu.

NO TITLES – Version for video editors.

Revisit the TAG event in this narrated video and learn why asteroid Bennu’s surface is surprisingly weak.

Complete transcript available.

Universal Production Music: “Difficult Conversation” and “Into Motion” by Peter Larsen; “Big Data” by Dominique Dalcan; “Subsurface” by Ben Niblett and Jon Cotton; “Crypto Current” by Dominique Dalcan; “Spaceman” by Rainman

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Version for Instagram Reels of full video.

When OSIRIS-REx touched down on asteroid Bennu, it encountered a surface of loose rocks and pebbles just barely held together by gravity.

Complete transcript available.

Universal Production Music: “Subsurface” by Ben Niblett and Jon Cotton

For More Information

See the following sources:

Planets & Moons

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab/Scientific Visualization Studio

Producers
- Dan Gallagher (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- James Tralie (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Animators
- Jonathan North (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Alexander Bodnar (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.)
- Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Walt Feimer (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Lisa Poje (Freelance)
Data visualizer
- Kel Elkins (USRA)
Narrators
- Dan Gallagher (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- James Tralie (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Scientists
- Dante Lauretta (The University of Arizona)
- Kevin J. Walsh (Southwest Research Institute)
- Ron Ballouz (The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)
- Olivier Barnouin (JHUAPL)
Public affairs officers
- Rani Gran (NASA/GSFC)
- Nancy Neal-Jones (NASA/GSFC)
Support
- Ernie Wright (USRA)
Technical support
- Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)