In September 2023, scientists with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission will gather in the Utah desert for the arrival of the largest asteroid sample ever received on Earth. “Asteroid City” actors, including Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, Maya Hawke, Rupert Friend, Jake Ryan and Jeffrey Wright, join NASA OSIRIS-REx sample expert Dr. Danny Glavin to discuss how studying the asteroid sample will give scientists insight into how the early solar system formed and how life began on Earth.
After a seven-year round trip journey that included mapping Bennu’s surface (a near-Earth asteroid that is no threat to our planet), identifying minerals and chemicals, and collecting a sample from the surface, OSIRIS-REx is on its way back to Earth with more than eight ounces of material. For more information on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission: https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex/
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Producers: Scott Bednar, Jessica Wilde, Emily Furfaro, Sami Aziz, Molly Wasser
Editor: Jessica Wilde
Movie Footage courtesy of Focus Features Asteroid City
Credit: NASA