The OSIRIS-REx mission and organic-rich materials from asteroid Bennu

The OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission successfully returned samples from asteroid Bennu to Earth on Sept 24, 2023. The returned samples are currently undergoing a preliminary examination by a team of scientists from around the world. The analyses being done address multiple aspects of the samples including their chemical and mineralogical composition, petrology, spectral characteristics, isotopic systematics, and physical characteristics. One key focus of these analyses is to determine the abundance and nature of organics within the samples, as materials like those returned from Bennu may be representative of those that delivered the original biogenic elements to the early Earth that played a role in the origin of life. This talk will provide a brief overview of the overall OSIRIS-REx mission and summarize some of the things that are being learned from study of the returned samples.