NASA gearing up for epic asteroid-sampling maneuver next month – Space.com

NASA is poised to make history next month.
The OSIRIS-REx probe
is scheduled to pull off NASA’s first-ever asteroid-sampling operation on Oct. 20, snagging precious dirt and gravel from a 1,640-foot-wide (500 meters) space rock called Bennu. 
“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta, of the University of Arizona, said during a news conference on Thursday (Sept. 24). “I’m confident that we’re up to the challenge that’s ahead of us.”
Related: NASA’…

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