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[Music] On October 20, 2020,
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft

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collected a sample of asteroid
Bennu.

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The event revealed surprising
details about Bennu’s surface

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and near-subsurface.

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[Dramatic music]

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One second after contact,
OSIRIS-REx injected Bennu

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with pressurized nitrogen gas…

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Causing an explosion of
particles and driving loose

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material into its sample
collector.

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Nine seconds after contact,
thrusters on board OSIRIS-REx 

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halted its descent into Bennu…

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Pushing it away from the
asteroid, and blasting loose

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material from the sample site.

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The spacecraft’s arm had sunk
almost half a meter

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beneath the surface…

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Far deeper than expected,
confirming that

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Bennu’s surface is incredibly
weak.

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Sixteen seconds after contact,
the arm fully reemerged

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from the subsurface.

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OSIRIS-REx had collected a
handful of material

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and kicked up roughly six tons
of loose rock.

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Thirty seconds after contact,
it shut off its thrusters

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and drifted away from Bennu.

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OSIRIS-REx will return its
sample to Earth

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in September 2023.

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[Music fades]