To Bennu and Back: Journey’s End

OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission. It launched in September 2016 on a journey to explore a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu. In October 2020, the spacecraft ventured to the asteroid’s surface and collected about 250 grams of material for delivery to Earth. Now, two years and four months after leaving Bennu, OSIRIS-REx is closing in on the place where its journey began. The mission’s thrilling finale will take place on September 24, 2023, as a capsule containing the Bennu samples touches down in Utah’s West Desert. Follow the journey to Bennu and back at: Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Dan Gallagher: Producer/Narrator Walt Feimer: Animation Lead Michael Lentz: Art Director/Animator Jonathan North: Animator Jenny McElligott: Animator Adriana Manrique Gutierrez: Animator Kim Dongjae: Animator Angeles Miron: Animator Josh Masters: Animator Kel Elkins: Data Visualizer Dante Lauretta: Scientist Jason Dworkin: Scientist Support: Michael Starobin Support: Lonnie Shekhtman Support: Chris Meaney Support: Ernie Wright Public Affairs: Rani Gran Music: “A Sense of Urgency” and “Rise to the Challenge” by Daniel Marantz and Michael James Burns, Raydia Music library [PRS]; “Fragments of Time” by Timothy Robert Shortell, Scores of Hypersonic Music [BMI] This video can be freely shared and downloaded at While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram: · X: · Facebook: · Flickr: