A NASA Spacecraft Just Landed on an Asteroid & the Video Is Gorgeous

An incredible view of an asteroid hundreds of millions of miles from Earth.

OSIRIS Rex asteroid sample
Photo courtesy of NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
Photo courtesy of NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has successfully touched down on the asteroid Bennu with a successful Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection from the asteroid's surface. On October 21, not long after the spacecraft touched down, NASA shared images of the complicated touchdown and sample collection. The resulting GIF is stunning. 

A series of 82 images from the OSIRIS-REx SamCam were assembled into a GIF to show the six seconds of contact it made with the asteroid, the agency announced during a press conference Wednesday evening. The images were taken over the course of about five minutes, starting with the craft around 82 feet over the surface of Bennu. There are about 1.25 seconds between each image taken.

Bennu is located more than 200 million miles from Earth, and the craft grabbed rock samples from the site named Nightingale within three feet of the originally targeted location. "The sampling event went really well," Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator, said during Wednesday's press conference. "We really did make a mess on the surface of this asteroid, but it's a good mess, the kind of mess we were hoping for."

In the video, you can see the spacecraft's Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) approaching Bennu, touching down, then penetrating the asteroid's regolith. It happens in a flash, but the contact, NASA says, went well. In the slowed-down version below, you can see the TAGSAM crushing rock on Bennu's surface, which is promising for the sampling process and the ultimate aim of bringing the sample back to Earth. 

You can also see rock explode outward with the craft as it launches itself away from sample site Nightingale. The team at NASA says that initial telemetry indicates the rock didn't harm the craft and that OSIRIS is still in good health for another potential sample collection date, if necessary, in January. 

Through various spacecraft activities, scientists will assess the amount of material collected by OSIRIS-REx in the coming days, including one maneuver that has the spacecraft spin in a circle with the sample extended. The sample won't have an opportunity to be studied in-person by the various groups involved in the project for many months. For now, we can enjoy the images that have been shared, which in themselves are providing invaluable information to the scientists involved.

Ready to go stargazing?

Here are all the best stargazing events that you can get out and see this month or you could stay in a stream the northern lights from home. If you're just getting started, check out our guide to astronomy for beginners or easy stargazing road trips from big US cities

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Dustin Nelson is a Senior Staff Writer at Thrillist. Follow Dustin Nelson on Twitter.