If you had been in the Utah desert in September, you might have spotted something amazing. Hanging from a parachute, a capsule fell from the sky. When it landed on Earth, scientists couldn’t wait to open it. Why? The capsule held samples of pebbles and dust. They came from an asteroid, or large space rock, named Bennu.
The mission to get the samples began in 2016. That’s when NASA, the U.S. space agency, launched a spacecraft called OSIRIS-REx. The spacecraft flew millions of miles over two years before reaching Bennu. For two more years, it circled the asteroid, studying it.
Then in 2020, OSIRIS-REx scooped up dust and pebbles from Bennu and headed home. As it zoomed past Earth, the spacecraft dropped off the capsule.
Scientists say the samples in the capsule contain water. Some think asteroids like Bennu may have crashed into Earth billions of years ago. They might have brought water to our planet, which formed oceans and lakes.