10 Things to Know About 101955 Bennu

An ancient relic of our solar system’s early days, Bennu has seen more than 4.5 billion years of history. Scientists think that within 10 million years of our solar system’s formation, Bennu’s present-day composition was already established. Bennu likely broke off from a much larger carbon-rich asteroid about 700 million to 2 billion years ago. It likely formed in the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, and has drifted much closer to Earth since then. Because its materials are so old, Bennu may contain organic molecules similar to those that could have been involved with the start of life on Earth.

This artist’s concept shows the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collecting a sample from Bennu

This artist’s concept shows the OSIRIS-REx mission returning a sample from Bennu to Earth.

Scientists think Bennu is part of a larger body that broke apart. This artist’s concept shows that even

Bennu and other asteroids represent building blocks of our solar system’s rocky planets