The NASA laboratory aims to discover the foundational elements of life within the sample extracted from Asteroid Bennu.

 NASA's Johnson Space Center, based in Houston, is eagerly anticipating the arrival of the asteroid Bennu sample back on Earth. This momentous event promises to significantly enrich our comprehension of both the solar system's formation and our own planet Earth. Expected to reach Earth in late September of this year, the precious cargo is presently aboard OSIRIS-REx (short for "Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer"), which was launched in September 2016. Bennu orbits at an average distance of approximately 105 million miles (168 kilometers) from the Sun.

In October 2020, the craft achieved a historic feat by landing on the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and successfully securing a substantial sample of the space rock using hardware attached to its robotic arm. This marked the first-ever US space mission to collect an asteroid sample and bring it back to Earth.

As reported by space.com, Lockheed Martin Space was responsible for constructing OSIRIS-REx, with the company providing flight operations for the craft, which will no longer be required after it dispatches the earth-bound capsule.

Following this remarkable achievement, the NASA probe will embark on an extended mission, known as OSIRIS-APEX, to approach a second asteroid, the potentially hazardous apophis. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will enter the orbit of this rocky celestial body in 2029.

Once the asteroid sample is safely back on Earth, scientists will meticulously study the pieces of rock and dust it contains. Moreover, they will carefully preserve the remaining sample for future generations equipped with advanced technology. This approach builds upon the practices first employed during the Apollo missions to the Moon.