Background

Where did we come from?

What is our destiny?

Asteroids, the leftover debris from the solar system formation process, can answer these questions and teach us about the history of our sun and nearby planets.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is traveling to Bennu, a carbonaceous asteroid whose regolith may record the earliest history of our solar system. Bennu may contain the molecular precursors to the origin of life and the Earth’s oceans.

Bennu is also one of the most potentially hazardous asteroids, as it has a relatively high probability of impacting the Earth late in the 22nd century. OSIRIS-REx will determine Bennu’s physical and chemical properties, which will be critical to know in the event of an impact mitigation mission.

Finally, asteroids like Bennu contain natural resources such as water, organics, and precious metals. In the future, these asteroids may fuel the exploration of the solar system by robotic and manned spacecraft.

Your challenge is to make a video to tell the world what you think about Bennu!

Potential Considerations

Use your imagination and tell your story of what you think about Bennu. What part of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is most exciting to you? What discoveries do you think we will make at Bennu? Whatever you think is cool about Bennu, tell the world about it!!

You can share a poem or a song, a dance or a presentation— you can even make a video from Bennu’s perspective!