In this episode, we dive into an unexpectedly rocky relationship between an asteroid named Bennu and a cutting-edge spacecraft named OSIRIS-REx.
Bennu, an asteroid larger than the Empire State Building, is an ancient relic of our solar system with more than 4.5 billion years of history to share. OSIRIS-REx, a cutting-edge spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin, launched in 2016 on a mission to meet Bennu for an extraterrestrial rendezvous and bring Bennu samples back to Earth.
Stick around for our "flash forward" with experts discussing what it will take to "untether" humans from Earth in the future.
To dig deeper into the incredible mission referenced in today’s episode, please follow these links:
How OSIRIS-REx is Returning an Asteroid Sample to Earth
Credits:
Space Makers is a production of Lockheed Martin Space.
Episode guests were Dante Lauretta from the University of Arizona, and Beau Bierhaus and Sandy Freund from Lockheed Martin. And they are Space Makers.
It's executive produced by Pavan Desai.
Senior producer is Lauren Cole.
Senior producer, writer, and host is Benjamin Dinsmore.
Associate producers and writers are Kaitlin Benz and Audrey Dods.
Sound designed and audio mastered by Julian Giraldo.
Graphic design by Tim Roesch.
Marketing and recruiting by Joe Portnoy, Shannon Myers, and Stephanie Dixon.
These stories would not be possible without the support from our space communications professionals Tracy Weise, Natalya Oleksik, Gary Napier, Lauren Duda, and Dani Hauf.