Space probe Osiris-Rex makes closest ever orbit of smallest ever object

Nasa sampling mission skims a mile above tiny asteroid Bennu where it will try to land and collect samples

The Nasa spacecraft Osiris-Rex has gone into orbit around an ancient asteroid, setting a pair of records.

Osiris-Rex spacecraft entered orbit on Monday around Bennu, 70m miles (110m kilometres) from Earth. It is the smallest celestial body ever to be orbited by a spacecraft, at just 500 metres across (1,600ft).

The spacecraft is orbiting barely a mile above the asteroid’s surface, another record.

Osiris-Rex arrived at Bennu in early December and flew in formation with it until the latest manoeuvre. The goal is to descend to the surface and collect samples of regolith – loose rock and dust – for return to Earth in 2023.

The New Year’s Eve milestone occurred a few hours before another Nasa explorer, New Horizons, was due to fly past the icy asteroid Ultima Thule out beyond Pluto.

Associated Press contributed to this report

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/01/space-probe-osiris-rex-makes-closest-ever-orbit-around-smallest-object