Bennu—discovered in 1999–is a small, near-Earth asteroid that passes close to Earth about every six years and is estimated to be about 4.5 billion-years-old.
The 4.5 billion-year-old cup of asteroid dust will help researchers better understand how Earth and life formed based on characteristics like chemical composition.
Experts believe that Bennu may contain organic molecules similar to those that could have been involved with the start of life on Earth.
This is the first asteroid sample collected by NASA and the largest sample collected from space since the Apollo moon rocks over 50 years ago.
Bennu is currently orbiting the sun 50 million miles (81 million kilometers) from Earth, Bennu is about one-third of a mile (one-half of a kilometer) across, roughly the size of the Empire State Building but shaped like a spinning top.
Bennu is predicted to come close enough to hit Earth in 2182 and a better understanding of this asteroid will also help with potential defection efforts.
Images of Bennu and the OSIRIS-REx landing via NASA
