In one of the biggest surprises of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, its target asteroid, Bennu, turned out to be a jagged, rugged world covered in large boulders, with few of the smooth patches of sandy or pebbly material scientists had expected based on observations with Earth-based instruments. Bennu’s looks were quite deceiving, and until now, scientists struggled to figure out why.
Category:
Asteroids, Astromaterials, Bennu, Goddard Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer), Planetary Science, Planetary Science Division
Posted on
March 17, 2026
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