How Far Did OSIRIS-REx Plunge Into Asteroid Bennu?

On October 20, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collected a sample of near-Earth asteroid Bennu. This “TAG event” revealed surprising details about Bennu’s loosely-packed surface. The spacecraft’s arm sank almost half a meter into the asteroid, far deeper than expected, confirming that Bennu’s surface is incredibly weak. During the event, OSIRIS-REx collected a handful of material and kicked up roughly six tons of loose rock. It will return its sample of Bennu to Earth in September 2023. Read more: Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab Dan Gallagher (KBRwyle): Producer Jonathan North (KBRwyle): Animator Kel Elkins (USRA): Data Visualizer Dante Lauretta (The University of Arizona): Lead Scientist Kevin Walsh (SwRI): Scientist Ronald Ballouz (JHUAPL): Scientist Olivier Barnouin (JHUAPL): Scientist Rani Gran (NASA/GSFC): Public Affairs Officer Nancy Neal-Jones (NASA/GSFC): Public Affairs Officer Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support Universal Production Music: “Subsurface” by Ben Niblett and Jon Cotton This video can be freely shared and downloaded at While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram · Twitter · Twitter · Facebook: · Flickr