Which NASA mission successfully collected a sample from the asteroid Bennu?
Answer
OSIRIS-REx.
Dedicated space missions are crucial because they allow scientists to obtain direct, in-situ data that remote observation alone cannot achieve. The NASA mission specifically designed to perform this direct investigation by collecting a sample from the asteroid Bennu is named OSIRIS-REx. Successfully returning collected material to Earth allows for laboratory analysis, which enables the measurement of elemental and isotopic composition with a level of precision unattainable when observing the body from millions of miles away. This returned material is vital for testing hypotheses concerning the delivery of organic molecules—the foundational precursors to life—to the early Earth via asteroid impacts.
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