NASA Spacecraft Touches Down On Asteroid Bennu 200 Million Miles From Earth; Grabs Sample Rock

NASA high-fived an asteroid for the first time on October 20. The daring mission was conducted to better understand the origins of the universe. A huge spacecraft lowered itself to the surface of the asteroid Bennu, some 200 million miles from Earth. The spacecraft has been designed & built by Lockheed Martin. It touched the rocky surface with a robotic arm that emitted a charge of nitrogen to stir up and capture pebbles and dust on the surface. NASA hopes it will be the largest extraterrestrial haul since the Apollo era - a sample of up to two kilograms that scientists would study for years to come once the spacecraft returns to Earth in 2023. However, NASA won't know for sure how much material it collected for a few days. If successful, the mission would be the first time NASA has ever taken a sample from one of the estimated 1 million asteroids in our solar system. This, scientists believe could shed light on how the universe was formed and how water ended up on Earth. While it would be a first for NASA, two Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa and Hayabusa2, have collected asteroid samples, with the second mission to return to Earth later this year. Scientists estimate there is a 1-in-2,700 chance it could hit Earth sometime between the years 2175 and 2199.