In 2016, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft began its journey to Bennu, a carbon-rich, near-Earth asteroid. The spacecraft rendezvoused with Bennu in 2018 and successfully obtained a sample of it in October 2020. In September, 2023, the spacecraft jettisoned the sample capsule and sent it onto a trajectory to touch down in the Utah desert. Analysis of the sample promises to provide insights into the formation of the Earth as a habitable world and the origin of life.

In this lecture, Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx primary investigator and professor at the University of Arizona, will discuss the findings from the first set of data from analysis of the Bennu samples.

This program will be presented in-person in the Planetarium at the National Air and Space Museum in DC and will be streamed live on YouTube. 

ASL Interpretation will be provided and live captioning on YouTube. If you require another access service to fully participate or have any questions about accessibility, please contact NASMPublicLectures@si.edu. To ensure the best experience, please try to contact us at your soonest convenience.

Lecture attendees are invited to arrive early at 7 pm to explore the second-floor galleries of the Museum, including the Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery and Destination Moon, prior to the lecture.

About the 2024 Exploring Space Lecture Series 

Aside from the meteorites that fall to Earth haphazardly, direct analysis of the materials of the solar system has required explorers—both human and robotic—to collect and return samples from the Moon, comets, asteroids, and one day other planets. The four lectures in this year’s series will spotlight the sample return missions that have helped us better understand the origin and evolution of the Earth and other planets. View all programs in the series.