OSIRIS-REx Sample Collection at Asteroid Bennu: SamCam View of TAGSAM

Captured on Oct. 20, during the OSIRIS-REx mission’s Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event, this series of 82 images shows the SamCam imager’s field of view as the NASA spacecraft approaches and touches down on asteroid Bennu’s surface. The sampling event brought the spacecraft all the way down to sample site Nightingale, and the team on Earth received confirmation of successful touchdown at 6:08 pm EDT. Preliminary data show the sampling head touched Bennu’s surface for approximately 6 seconds, after which the spacecraft performed a back-away burn. Read more: Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona Download full-resolution versions of this and related multimedia at NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio: